Assessing growth band counts from vertebrae and dorsal-fin spines for ageing sharks: comparison of four methods applied to Heterodontus portusjacksoni

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Funding Acknowledgements

We thank the anonymous referees who improved this paper with their detailed comments and corrections and the following people for their contribution in collecting samples, material processing and statistical advice: Matt Reardon, Kate Rodda, Toby Bolton, observers and commercial fishers from Victoria and South Australia, staff of the Central Ageing Facility (MAFFRI) and Ann Grant. This research was supported by two Australian Fisheries Research and Development Corporation grants (FRDC Project 2002/033 to K. Rodda and FRDC Project 2003/023 toT. I. W.). The senior author was supported by a Postgraduate Scholarship from the National Science and Technology Council and the National Fisheries Institute from Mexico, and by a David Hay Writing Up Award from the University of Melbourne for preparation of this paper.