Age, Growth, Mortality, and Reproductive Biology of Red Drums in North Carolina Waters
- 1 January 1995
- journal article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in Transactions of the American Fisheries Society
- Vol. 124 (1) , 37-54
- https://doi.org/10.1577/1548-8659(1995)124<0037:agmarb>2.3.co;2
Abstract
Red drums Sciaenops ocellatus were sampled in North Carolina waters from October 1987 through December 1990. Ages determined from sectioned otoliths were validated by length-frequency and marginal-increment analyses, and the recapture of oxytetracycIine-marked fish. Fish growth was rapid during the first 5 years, after which annual growth increments were much smaller. Growth was best described by a continuous double von Bertalanffy growth curve, with a transition age of 4.4 years; K 1, the growth coefficient for fish younger than the transition age, was 0.30/year and K 2, the growth coefficient for fish older than the transition age, was 0.07/year. Maximum observed age and size were 56 years and 1,250 mm fork length (FL) for males and 52 years and 1,346 mm FL for females. Fifty-percent maturity was attained among males by age 2 at 621–640 mm FL and among females by age 3 at 801–820 mm FL. Spawning occurred from August through early October in estuarine waters of Pamlico Sound and nearshore ocean ...Keywords
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