THE GROWTH OF MYLEUS-RHOMBOIDALIS (CUVIER, 1817) (CHARACIFORME, SERRASALMIDAE) IN 2 RIVERS OF FRENCH-GUIANA

Myleus rhomboidalis is a freshwater fish from French Guiana which seem s to have a large potential for aquaculture. The pattern of growth of this fish was investigated in its natural environment with the aim of using the data obtained as a reference for fish farming trials. In the first part of the paper it is shown that this species exibits two gro wth cycles per year, as fishes from French Guiana often do. These bimo dal cycles are synchronous with the alternating dry and rainy seasons, the two growth periods corresponding to the two rainy seasons of the year. In the second part, the growth pattern of M. rhomboidalis is des cribed, first on the basis of uncorrected data on size and skeletochro nological ages, and then by back-calculation and growth-curve modellin g, according to Von Bertalanffy's model.