Age, growth and reproductive biology of a widespread coral reef fish, yellowfin goatfish <scp> Mulloidichthys vanicolensis </scp> (Valenciennes, 1831)

Yellowfin goatfish Mulloidichthys vanicolensis (Valenciennes, 1831) is a widely distributed commercial fish in the Indo-Pacific. The authors examined the age, growth, sexual maturity and spawning season of M. vanicolensis around Okinawa Island, southwestern Japan, based on sectioned otolith and gonadal histology. Monthly changes in the appearance of an opaque edge indicate the annual formation of otolith bands. This fish shows sexual size dimorphism due to the faster growth and larger size of females compared to males. The von Bertalanffy growth functions were L