A von Bertalanffy Growth Model with a Seasonally Varying Coefficient

Abstract

The von Bertalanffy model of body growth is inappropriate for organisms whose growth is restricted to a seasonal period because it assumes that growth rate is invariant with time. Incorporation of a time-varying coefficient significantly improves the capability of the von Bertalanffy equation to describe changing body size of both the bivalve mollusk Macoma balthica in San Francisco Bay [USA] and the flathead sole, Hippoglossoides elassodon, in Washington state [USA]. This simple modification of the von Bertalanffy model should offer improved predictions of body growth for a variety of other aquatic animals.