Age, Growth, Natural Mortality, and Reproductive Seasonality of Knobbed Porgy from Southeastern United States Waters

Abstract

The Knobbed Porgy Calamus nodosus, an important secondary species in reef fish catches of the southeastern United States, was recently the subject of a fishery closure due to the porgy complex quota being exceeded. Knobbed Porgy (n = 448) were aged using sectioned sagittal otoliths. Opaque zones on otolith sections were annular, forming in March–July (peaking in May). Knobbed Porgy ranged from 1 to 21 years, and the largest fish measured 507 mm TL. Body size relationships relating TL, FL, and total body weight (W) for Knobbed Porgy were TL = 1.07·FL + 22.93 (n = 3,173; r2 = 0.97), FL = 0.91·TL − 12.54 (n = 3,173; r2 = 0.97), W = (1.38 × 10−5)TL3.03 (n = 12,732; r2 = 0.92), and W = (7.99 × 10−5)FL2.79 (n = 3,199; r2 = 0.90). Mean length at age was significantly different between Knobbed Porgy collected in North Carolina through southeast Florida (northern region) and those collected in the Florida Keys (southern region). The von Bertalanffy growth equations for Knobbed Porgy were Lt = 412[1 − e−0.20(t + 1.97)] (n = 448) for all regions combined, Lt = 403[1 − e−0.38(t + 0.0001)] (n = 117) for northern region fish, and Lt = 326[1 − e−0.42(t + 1.61)] (n = 331) for southern region fish. Age‐varying estimates of natural mortality were 0.36–0.79 year−1 (ages 2–21) for the northern region and 0.42–0.67 year−1 (ages 1–12) for fish from the Florida Keys. Hydrated oocytes were present during February–April in macroscopically staged ovaries (n = 148) for fish from the Florida Keys, and gonadosomatic index data indicated that the month of peak spawning in females was April. The updated life history information should be useful to fishery managers in formulating effective management strategies.

Life history demographic parameter synthesis for exploited Florida and Caribbean coral reef fishes

“…Jolthead Burton, Potts, Page, and Poholek (2017) (2) (2) Liubimova and Capote (1971) (1) Knobbed Burton, Potts, Poholek, Ostrowski, and Page (2019) (3) Burton et al (2019) (2)…”

Age, Growth, and Natural Mortality of Whitebone Porgy, Calamus Leucosteus, From the Southeastern United States

“…Within the family Sparidae. Tyler-Jedlund & Torres (2015) found that littlehead porgy grew larger in the northern portion of their study area in the Gulf of Mexico than did fish in the southern region (Tampa Bay vs. Charlotte Harbor, FL), and Burton et al (2019) found that knobbed porgy attained larger sizes and older ages in the northern portion of their study area than did fish from the southern portion.…”

“…Additionally, other members of the family Sparidae in the SEUS have similar timing of increment formation. Horvath, Grimes & Huntsman (1990) concluded from indirect evidence that knobbed porgy from North Carolina and South Carolina initiated annulus deposition in June and July, while Burton et al (2019) found annulus deposition in knobbed porgy occurred from April through July, with a peak in June. Red porgy (Pagrus pagrus Linnaeus 1758) were found to deposit annuli from March through May, with peak in April for fish from North Carolina through southeast Florida (Potts & Manooch, 2001a).…”

Age, growth, reproductive biology and mortality of Cranoglanis multiradiatus , a threatened freshwater fish in Hainan Island, China

“…, where Age c was adjusted for the time of year in which the fish was caught (Mc) compared to the month of peak spawning (M b : calculated by the reproductive data) (Burton et al, 2019). Age f was fractional or monthly biological age (Burton et al, 2019). The fish growth equation parameters were calculated by the non-linear least squares (Katsanevakis & Maravelias, 2008).…”