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A previous study that explored the age and growth of red steenbras Petrus rupestris (Valenciennes, 1830), a large sparid (family Sparidae, seabreams or porgies) endemic to South Africa and reported...

Movement patterns of red steenbras Petrus rupestris were obtained from fish tagged and released in the Tsitsikamma National Park, South Africa. Of 217 fish tagged, 38 were recaptured. Juveniles ( 700 mm FL) migrated in a north-easterly direction towards the Transkei coast.

Sectioned sagittal otoliths were used for age determination of red steenbras. The growth zones were composed of opaque and translucent zones. The otoliths were viewed burnt and unburnt, the former giving slightly clearer zone patterns under reflected light. The otoliths have a crenulated edge and exhibit stacking of growth zones, which prevented accurate measurement of zone growth and back-calculation of age. Seasonality of zone formation was not determined because interpretation of the crenulated margin was difficult. Data analysis included down-weighting age-length points for which the age estimates were determined imprecisely. Von Bertalanffy and Schnute growth models were fitted to the data. The best fit to the whole data set was obtained with the Schnute model. Differences in growth between males and females were not statistically significant, possibly because of the poor precision of the fit to the data set for females. Red steenbras live to at least 33 years and attain sexual maturity at approximat...