Growth parameters of round sardinella Sardinella aurita Valenciennes, 1847 larvae in the Adriatic sea estimated from otolith growth rings

Round sardinella larvae was sampled in the period from 14 to 20 August 1989 at the station Stončica in the eastern middle Adriatic. Specimens were aged by means of growth increments in th sagittal otoliths. the Gompertz and Laird-Gompertz growth equations, commonly used in larval analysis, described the larval rowth of this species in the length range sampled. The initial length of round sardinella larvae at time t=0 was L=4.661 mm. The obtained value of the predicted length at metamorphosis was a=24.45 mm. The average growth (0.72 mm d-1) was estimated by the slope of a line fitted by least squares regression analysis to the relation between standard length and number of increments.