AUTHOR=Fadool Baylie A. , Bostick Kylie G. , Brewster Lauran R. , Hansell Alexander C. , Carlson John K. , Smukall Matthew J. 

TITLE=Age and growth estimates for the nurse shark (Ginglymostoma cirratum) over 17 years in Bimini, The Bahamas

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Marine Science

VOLUME=11

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/marine-science/articles/10.3389/fmars.2024.1265150

DOI=10.3389/fmars.2024.1265150

ISSN=2296-7745

ABSTRACT=<p>Age and growth estimates are essential for life history modeling in elasmobranchs and are used to inform accurate conservation and management decisions. The nurse shark (<italic>Ginglymostoma cirratum</italic>) is abundant in coastal waters of the Atlantic Ocean, yet many aspects of their life history remain relatively understudied, aside from their reproductive behavior. We used mark-recapture data of 91 individual <italic>G. cirratum</italic> from Bimini, The Bahamas, from 2003 to 2020, to calculate von Bertalanffy (vB) growth parameters, empirical growth rate, and age derived from the resulting length-at-age estimates. The Fabens method for estimating growth from mark-recapture methods was applied through a Bayesian framework using Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods. This provided growth parameters with an asymptotic total length (<italic>L</italic>∞) of 303.28 cm and a growth coefficient (<italic>k</italic>) of 0.04 yr<sup>-1</sup>. The average growth rate for <italic>G. cirratum</italic> was approximately 8.68 ± 6.00 cm yr<sup>-1</sup>. This study also suggests that the previous maximum age for <italic>G. cirratum</italic> is likely underestimated, with the oldest individual predicted to be 43 years old. Our study is the first to present vB growth parameters and a growth curve for <italic>G. cirratum</italic>. It indicates that this species is slow-growing and long-lived, which improves our understanding of their life history.</p>