Date Received: 23-06-2025 / Date Accepted: 16-09-2025 / Date Published: 31-10-2025
This study investigated biological characteristics of white-spotted rabbitfish in the northern coastal waters of Quang Tri province, Vietnam. The analysis was based on fishery biological data collected from January to December 2024 with 1,544 individuals. The results showed that the distribution of length ranges from 61 to 192mm FL (fork length) with an average of 138.8 ± 0.66mm FL. The fork length-body weight relationship was expressed with the equation W=(0,206e – 4) × FL(2,91925) with correlation coefficient r = 0.97. The von Bertalanffy growth function of white-spotted rabbitfish was expressed as FLt = 210 × (1 – e-0.7 × (t – 0.8705)). The total mortality (Z), fishing mortality (F), and natural mortality (M) were estimated as 3.17 yr(-1), 2.35 yr(-1), 0.82 yr(-1), respectively and the level of exploitation (E) was 0.74. Males were dominant throughout the period of study, male-to-female ratio was 1.55:1. The breeding season of white-spotted rabbitfish concentrated during March-June, with the peak in March. The first maturity length Lm50 was 151.4mm. The rabbitfish resource is being overexploited in the coastal waters of Quang Tri (E = 0.74) and this value exceeds the commonly recommended threshold (E ≈ 0.5). Further research is needed to convert this species into a marine aquaculture target to reduce the pressure on the exploitation of this species in the wild.
