Johnson, A. K., Richards, R. A., Cullen, D. W., and Sutherland, S. J. 2008. Growth, reproduction, and feeding of large monkfish, Lophius americanus. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 65: 1306–1315. The American monkfish, Lophius americanus, supports important commercial fisheries in the Northwest Atlantic. Although life history information is available for smaller L. americanus, the biology of large monkfish (>70 cm) is poorly understood because relatively few large fish are caught in standard resource surveys. Between 2006 and 2008, 699 L. americanus of 71–118 cm total length were collected from commercial gillnet fishers operating in the mid-Atlantic Bight (n = 689) and in the Gulf of Maine (n = 10) to investigate growth rates, reproductive biology, and feeding habits of large monkfish. All those collected were mature females ranging in age from 7 to 13 years. Growth was linear at an average annual rate of 7.6 cm. Hepatosomatic indices peaked in February and gonadosomatic indices between February and April. Postovulatory follicles and vitellogenic oocytes were observed in the same ovaries, evidence that monkfish spawn over a protracted period and possibly more than once annually. Food habits were similar to those reported for smaller benthic phase monkfish, but cannibalism was more prevalent in large fish (5.6% frequency of occurrence). Frequencies of feeding and cannibalism were greatest in females in the final stage of oocyte maturation.

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Offshore wind farms are a crucial component for the improvement of renewable energy in the United States. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) designated ~170 km 2 of shelf area for wind energy development off the coast of Maryland, USA. In order to understand potential environmental impacts of wind turbine installation on the benthic ecosystem within the designated area, we conducted a study to visually characterize bottom habitats and epibenthic communities in the Mid-Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf blocks of the Maryland wind energy area. Seven 5 km long transects were sampled using a towed camera sled with a downward-facing digital camera that captured images at 5 frames·s -1 s. Additional small-mesh beam trawling was also conducted at selected locations complementary for species identification. Image data were analyzed using two image selection methods, random and systematic (i.e. video frames were selected at various intervals). For both methods, estimates of community diversity (Hill’s N2) stabilized with sample sizes ranging from 316 to 398 frames. Our results allowed us to define distinct epibenthic communities and bottom habitats that are associated with offshore wind energy sites and to develop a sampling technique for digital images that can be applied to other research programs.

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