Growth of the banana prawn, Penaeus merguiensis De Man, as estimated from tagging studies in the Gulf of Papua

Abstract

To estimate the growth parameters of the banana prawn, P. merguiensis, a tag-recapture study, using vinyl streamer tags (Floy FTSL-731, was undertaken throughout the northern Gulf of Papua. Recapture data were analysed using Fabens' derivation of the von Bertalanffy growth curve. A differential growth rate was found between male and female banana prawns: L∞ and K values for males were 29.34 mm carapace length (C.L.) and 0.136 per week, and for females 35.34 mm C.L. and 0.117 per week, respectively. The assumptions applied in estimating the parameters by the Fabens method were not invalidated. These prawns were shown to have a smaller maximum size than banana prawns from the Gulf of Carpentaria, and it is proposed that two discrete populations exist.