Abstract

An inventory of the maximum length reached by 42 species of fish living in the Manche-à-Eau mangrove lagoon, Guadeloupe (French West Indies) has been undertaken in the aim to evaluate the relationship existing between this ecosystem and the size of individuals that it welcomes. The maximum observed lengths MOL found in the region have been compared to those available MAL in existing literature for each of these species. The majority of populations presents individuals whose length reaches at least 40% from the known maximum length for the species, although only 38,1% have individuals longer than 300mm in absolute value. Populations of the other species are there represented only by individuals either in their initial development phases, or reduced length as compared to the maximum length ML known elsewhere for the same species. In this mangrove, species having the greatest relative size are generally those that have the smallest absolute length. The use of the RL index (=MOL/MAL) as a tool for description and comparison of fish assemblages made possible the pre selection of 12 species for breeding tests. In combining the biological, technical and commercial parameters, the pre-selection retains as primordial the following species: Archosargus rhomboidalis, Haemulon bonariense, Lutjanus griseus and Centropomus undecimalis.

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