[Coral-List] age of the new blue marlin World record !!!

[Michaël RARD]

Dear all,

Here in Reunion Island (Indian Ocean) in October 2003, the 12th, during a big game fishing challenge was catched the new Blue Marlin (Makaira mazara) woman world record !

The titanesque fight was during 3h30 with a 130 lbs nylon line.
This blue marlin shows a huge weight as 551 kg for a total lengh of 4.41 m (4.17 m to the tail foark) !!!

I have kept some 3 vertebral elements (vertebras), some parts of the skin, with their thick scales. All elements are conserved in a fridge (-18°C)

I want to determine the age of this exceptionnal animal, therefore I contact you to know how can I do, if you know persons who can help me and if any of you know how to determine the age of this type of fish. Apparently, I think we cannot determine the age with its scales because they are very thick and without growth scratches.

Many thanks for your help.
Best regards.
Michaël
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                          Michaël RARD
Laboratoire d'Ecologie Marine, Université de La Réunion
   97715 Saint Denis messag CEDEX 9, France
Tel : (262) 262-93-81-57, Fax : (262) 262-93-86-85
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/mika.dit.kl/html/ContactsMika.htm