Abstract Validated age and growth estimates are important for constructing age-structured population dynamic models of chondrichthyan fishes, especially those which are exploited. We review age and growth studies of chondrichth- yan fishes, using 28 recent studies to identify areas where improvements can be made in describing the characteristics of ageing struc- tures (both traditional and novel) utilized to estimate ages of sharks, rays, and chimaeras. The topics identified that need consistency in- clude the: (1) terminology used to describe growth features; (2) methods used to both verify and validate age estimates from chon- drichthyan calcified structures, especially edge and marginal increment analyses; and (3) the functions used to produce and describe growth parameters, stressing the incorporation of size at birth (L 0 ) and multiple functions to charac- terize growth characteristics, age at maturity and longevity. Keywords Age validation Æ Precision analysis Æ Chondrichthyes Æ Growth Æ Longevity Æ Vertebrae Introduction In recent years, there have been many advances in the quantitative study of age and growth of chondrichthyan fishes (Cailliet and Goldman 2004). Several new hard parts have been shown to provide valid assessments of age in some species, and new techniques for validation (e.g. bomb carbon) are becoming more widely known and applied. Moreover, the importance of assessing the precision and accuracy of counts on ageing structures, and the differences in growth models and their fits to data, are becoming more widely recognized. The book chapter cited above in a book entitled ‘‘Biology of Sharks and their Rela- tives,’’ edited by Carrier et al. (2004), reviewed the field of age and growth in this group of fishes up to 2003. Although it has been less than two years since this publication, numerous papers on these subjects have been published, in addition to sev- eral papers not covered in the 2004 review chapter. Since then, we have found five papers that were missed and 23 new publications that covered age and growth of chondrichthyan fishes. These papers covered the life histories of three species G. M. Cailliet (&) Æ W. D. Smith Æ H. F. Mollet Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, 8272 Moss Landing Road, Moss Landing, CA 95039, USA e-mail: cailliet@mlml.calstate.edu K. J. Goldman Alaska Department of Fish and Game, 3298 Douglas Place, Homer, AK 99603, USA Environ Biol Fish (2006) 77:211–228 DOI 10.1007/s10641-006-9105-5 123 ELASMOBRANCHS Age and growth studies of chondrichthyan fishes: the need for consistency in terminology, verification, validation, and growth function fitting Gregor M. Cailliet Æ Wade D. Smith Æ Henry F. Mollet Æ Kenneth J. Goldman Received: 2 June 2006 / Accepted: 22 June 2006 / Published online: 29 September 2006 Ó Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2006