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Age and Growth of Red Drum from a Saltwater Marsh Impoundment in South Carolina
Author(s) -
Theiling Dale L.,
Loyacano Harold A.
Publication year - 1976
Publication title -
transactions of the american fisheries society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.696
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1548-8659
pISSN - 0002-8487
DOI - 10.1577/1548-8659(1976)105<41:aagord>2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - drum , marsh , south carolina , salt marsh , geography , environmental science , hydrology (agriculture) , ecology , archaeology , wetland , biology , geology , geotechnical engineering , political science , public administration
Adult and juvenile red drum, Sciaenops ocellata (Linnaeus), confined to a saltwater marsh impoundment at South Island, Georgetown County, South Carolina, were studied to determine their length‐weight relationship, age according to otoliths, and the time of annulus formation in the otoliths. The equation log W = −1.29596 + 2.74031 log L was determined for the relationship of length to weight. Sectioned otoliths revealed no annulus formed in fish up to 1,070 g and 38.5 cm in standard length, suggesting that no annulus was formed the first spring after hatching in September through November. Annuli were formed in spring (April‐May). The largest fish belonged to the 1966 and 1967 year classes, which were in the marsh when the impoundment was formed in May 1968. Reading otoliths before they were cut produced erroneous results.