Biology of the Southern Kingfish in the South Atlantic Bight

Southern kingfish Menticirrhus americanus were caught from Cape Fear, North Carolina, to Cape Canaveral, Florida, during seasonal stratified random trawl surveys. Maximum frequency of occurrence and abundance occurred in this area during summer and fall surveys. Analysis of marginal increments on scales showed annulus formation occurred from winter through early spring. Back‐calculated mean total lengths at age produced von Bertalanffy growth equations of L t = 292{1 ‐ exp[‐0.6369(t ‐ 0.0045)]} for males and L t = 477{1 ‐ exp[‐0.2742(t + 0.2813)]} for females, where L t = total length (mm) at age t (years). Spawning takes place from April through August in the South Atlantic Bight, most intensively from April through early June. Southern kingfish mature at age 1. In South Carolina, 96% of the kingfish landed as by‐catch from the penaeid shrimp fishery were southern kingfish, which averaged 23 cm total length (range, 18–36 cm); 81% of these were age 1 and 79% were females. Research catches indicated annual mortality rates of 67–79%, whereas commercial catches implied a rate of about 87%; the higher rate is related to culling operations at sea. Received October 29, 1983 Accepted February 27, 1985