Age, Growth and Maturity of Rock Flathead (Platycephalus laevigatus) From Southeastern Australia (#250)
Understanding the life-history characteristics of a fish species is a key component for stock assessments and should ideally be species-specific. In this study, we used length-at-age data to provide renewed life-history information for rock flathead (Platycephalus laevigatus) and used a Bayesian inference approach to present growth estimates for the species. Length- and age-at-maturity analyses revealed that male rock flathead matured at smaller lengths (L50 = 32.68 cm TL) than females (L50 = 35.15 cm TL), but both sexes achieve sexual maturity at similar ages (A50 males = 2.17 years; A50 females = 2.12 years). Furthermore, the species could potentially have accelerated growth driven by fishing-induced evolution. Bayesian growth models suggests that rock flathead may have greater growth rates (k; males = 0.52±0.05; females =0.44±0.01) than initially thought. Our results provide an important update on the biological life-history of rock flathead, offering new insights that could assist with future stock assessment and ongoing management strategies since the species' first age estimates were reported over two decades ago.
 AMSA 2025
                AMSA 2025