Great longevity of speckled hind (Epinephelus drummondhayi), a deep-water grouper, with novel use of postbomb radiocarbon dating in the Gulf of Mexico

Growth characteristics are poorly understood for speckled hind (Epinephelus drummondhayi), a tropical deep-water grouper of economic importance that is considered overfished. Age has been validated for early growth, but the validity of adult age estimates is unknown. A few studies of growth zones in...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Canadian journal of fisheries and aquatic sciences 2013-08, Vol.70 (8), p.1131-1140
Main Authors: ANDREWS, Allen H, BARNETT, Beverly K, ALLMAN, Robert J, MOYER, Ryan P, TROWBRIDGE, Hannah D
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age
Agnatha. Pisces
Animal and plant ecology
Animal development
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Applied ecology
Aquatic sciences
Biological and medical sciences
Deep water
Economic importance
Epinephelus drummondhayi
Exploitation and management of natural biological resources (hunting, fishing and exploited populations survey, etc.)
Fish
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Groupers
Growth
Longevity
Marine
Otoliths
Physical growth
Radiocarbon dating
Sea water ecosystems
Synecology
Tropical fish
Vertebrates: general zoology, morphology, phylogeny, systematics, cytogenetics, geographical distribution
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Growth characteristics are poorly understood for speckled hind (Epinephelus drummondhayi), a tropical deep-water grouper of economic importance that is considered overfished. Age has been validated for early growth, but the validity of adult age estimates is unknown. A few studies of growth zones in otoliths have revealed maximum age estimates of 15–35 years, which have been uncritically assumed as longevity. To answer questions about adult age, bomb radiocarbon dating was used to provide validated age estimates. A novel aspect of this study was use of the postbomb radiocarbon decline period (ca. 1980–2004) to age younger fish, an approach that was validated with known-age otoliths. Bomb radiocarbon dating provided valid length-at-age estimates ranging from ∼5 years to more than 45 years. Age was unexpectedly greater than previous estimates for more than half the fish used in this study, and longevity may approach 60–80 years. This study extends the utility of bomb radiocarbon dating by more than 20 years and adds to the growing perspective that deep-water tropical fishes can be long-lived.
ISSN:0706-652X
1205-7533
DOI:10.1139/cjfas-2012-0537