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Article
Habitat specific trade-offs in growth and survival by hogfish Lachnolaimus maximus in southeast Florida
Bulletin of Marine Science
  • Ian A Towne, Nova Southeastern University
  • Paul Arena, Nova Southeastern University
  • Angela B Collins, Florida Sea Grant
  • David Kerstetter, Nova Southeastern University
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
7-8-2021
Abstract

The hogfish Lachnolaimus maximus, an economically important, reef-associated protogynous teleost, has gained additional interest from fisheries managers due to evidence of overfishing in the southeastern United States. This study collected data on age and growth of hogfish in southeast Florida (SEFL), an understudied part of the species’ range. Hogfish (n = 227) were collected from three reef tracts at different depths between January 2016 and August 2017. The average maximum potential length (L∞) was 414 mm overall and showed evidence of Lee’s Phenomenon occurring relative to the eastern Gulf of Mexico, an area of presumed lower fishing pressure, where L∞ was 920 mm. Hogfish growth was also found to vary significantly by reef location in SEFL. Otolith-based aging revealed that SEFL hogfish growth past age 3 significantly decreased as reef depth increased between the three reef tracts [length at age 9 (L9) = 564, 405, 351 mm FL]. By L9, hogfish from the shallowest reef tract (4–6 m) were on average 61% longer and four times the weight of individuals collected from the deepest reef tract (15–25 m). Annual survival also increased with depth (42%, 65%, 73%), with a linear relationship to growth at L9 where R2 = 1.0, indicating there are inherent trade-offs between growth and longevity in hogfish of southeast Florida.

ORCID ID
0000-0002-4440-8767
ResearcherID
I-5396-2012
DOI
10.5343/bms.2020.0075
Citation Information
Ian A Towne, Paul Arena, Angela B Collins and David Kerstetter. "Habitat specific trade-offs in growth and survival by hogfish Lachnolaimus maximus in southeast Florida" Bulletin of Marine Science Vol. 97 Iss. 3 (2021) p. 427 - 440 ISSN: 1553-6955
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/david-kerstetter/182/