Age, Growth, and Mortality of Blueline Tilefish from North Carolina and South Carolina
- 1 September 1982
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in Transactions of the American Fisheries Society
- Vol. 111 (5) , 585-592
- https://doi.org/10.1577/1548-8659(1982)111<585:agamob>2.0.co;2
Abstract
On otoliths from 283 blueline tilefish Caulolatilus microps captured off North Carolina and South Carolina, annulus formation occurred between February and April and was related to gonadal development and photoperiod. Mean back‐calculated total lengths (TL, ram) were: Age I, 165; II, 284; III, 358; IV, 415; V, 464; VI, 505; VII, 544; VIII, 577; IX, 608; X, 633; XI, 656; XII, 676; XIII, 693; XIV, 709; XV, 727. The oldest fish captured were age XV, and the largest was 780 mm TL and 5.6 kg. Growth in length by year t is described by the equation TLt = 813.5{1 ‐ exp[‐0.137(t + 1.03)]}. The length‐weight relationship is logeW = −12.286 + 3.142 logeTL, where W = total weight in kg. Males generally were larger at age and lived longer than females. Blueline tilefish captured on headboats off South Carolina (mean = 609 mm TL) were larger than those from North Carolina (mean = 554 mm TL). Blueline tilefish are susceptible to hook‐and‐line fishing at age IV and are fully recruited by age VI. Instantaneous total mortality (Z) was 0.22 for 1972–1977.This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: