Individual growth analysis of the Pacific yellowlegs shrimp Penaeus californiensis via multi-criteria approach

Length-frequency data of juveniles and sub-adults of Penaeus californiensis were analyzed, collected from January 2002 to January 2003 in the Agiabampo lagoon system and adjacent marine coastal zone. Six models were parameterized with four criteria, in addition to a mixed criterion (fat-tail and depensatory), to estimate the parameters that best fit the growth curve. The model that best fit was the Johnson model with the mixed criterion in females and males: k = 6.02 (5.93-6.12); L infinity = 188.8 (186.3-191.8); t(0) = 0.0221 (0.02070.0234); and: k = 8.98 (8.85-9.12); L infinity =153.3 (151.7-155.0); t(0) = 0.0386 (0.0378-0.0394), respectively. The conclusion is that: 1) the mixture approach found in this study as best leads to the application of a very highperformance objective function to analyze individual length-at-age variability, 2) shows that the best model to describe the growth trajectory of P. californiensis in marine and estuarine environments is a sigmoid curve with an inflection point near to cero age (Johnson model).