•  
  •  

Home > GCR > Vol. 27 > Iss. 1 (2016)

 

Alternate Title

Age, Growth and Natural Mortality of Blackfin Snapper Lutjanus buccanella from the Southeastern United States and U. S. Caribbean

Document Type

Article

Abstract

We determined ages of Blackfin Snapper (Lutjanus buccanella Cuvier 1828; n = 622) collected from the southeastern United States coast and U.S. Caribbean from 1979–2015 using sectioned sagittal otoliths. Opaque zones were determined to be annular, forming March – July (peaking in April–June). Blackfin Snapper ranged from 1–27 years and from 180–609 mm total length (TL). Body size relationships for Blackfin Snapper were: TL = 1.09 FL + 0.81 (n = 203, r2 = 0.99); FL = 0.91 TL + 3.38 (n = 203, r2 = 0.99); TL = 1.23 SL + 14.27 (n = 83, r2 = 0.97); FL = 1.14 SL + 10.84 (n = 83, r2 = 0.99); W = 7.79 x 10—9 TL3.09 (n = 216); and W = 9.54 x 10—9 FL3.11 (n = 228). The von Bertalanffy growth equation was: Lt = 549 (1 — e—0.20 (t +1.51)) (n = 622). Point estimate of natural mortality was M = 0.16, while age—specific estimates of M ranged from 0.65–0.21/y for ages 1–27. This study presents the first findings of life history parameters for Blackfin Snapper from the Atlantic waters off the southeastern United States and U.S. Caribbean.

First Page

66

Last Page

73

Download

Share

COinS