Growth of the purple snail Plicopurpura pansa in Baja California Sur, Mexico

Abstract

 To study the growth of the purple snail Plicopurpura pansa at the northern limit of its distribution, from 1999 to 2001 monthly random samples were obtained from two beaches in the southern part of the Baja California Peninsula (Mexico): one on the Gulf of California and the other on the west coast of the peninsula. Mark and recapture experiments, as well as laboratory rearing were also done. The von Bertalanffy growth equation parameters derived from length frequency data were K = 0.17 and L_∞ = 90 mm, and agree with those estimated from the mark and recapture data, but are lower that those reported in the literature for P. pansa from the central and southern Mexican Pacific. Snails maintained under laboratory conditions had low growth rates. These results could be used to implement models for the assessment of purple snail fisheries.