Rev. biol. mar. oceanogr. 49(1): 141-145

Research Note

Length-weight relationships for 25 kelp forest-associated fishes of northern and central Chile

Alejandro Pérez-Matus¹, Sergio A. Carrasco¹ and Andrés Ospina-Alvarez²

¹Subtidal Ecology Laboratory & Center for Marine Conservation, Estación Costera de Investigaciones Marinas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Casilla 114-D, Santiago, Chile

²Centro de Conservación Marina & Departamento de Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Casilla 114-D, Santiago, Chile

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The present study reports length-weight relationships for 25 species of reef fishes associated with large brown macroalgae (i.e., Lessonia trabeculata and Macrocystis pyrifera) from the northern and central rocky coast of Chile (Southeast Pacific Coast; 18°-33°S). Weight scaled to length with an average power of 2.85, close to the expected value of 3, meaning that the relationship between length and weight is close to an isometric growth. No latitudinal (i.e., spatial) and temporal variations were observed on the growth coefficient of the fish species studied.

Key words:  Rocky reefs, fish assemblages, distribution, allometric growth