FISHERIES RESEARCH INSTITUTE,MOA,TAIWAN

Uroteuthis edulis is one of the main target species of the torch-light fishery in northern Taiwan. It is also an important commercial cephalopod in the southern East China Sea. In the past, studies on reproduction and growth were conducted. The study was to exam the seasonal variability on growth of squid that spawns throughout the year. The result showed that the exponential function (r² > 0.31) was the best fit for the growth of female and male, excepting summer hatched group. The maximum age observed was 241 days. The spring hatched group and the winter hatched group had large size ( ML > 300 mm) and the size of the summer hatched group was generally small (ML < 150 mm). The ML of winter hatched group grew faster than the spring, summer and autumn hatched groups. It is possible that the winter hatched group experienced the warmer water temperature of spring and summer at about 180-days-old, which caused the group to grow faster than the other three hatched groups after 180 days life time.