Abstract
Dog snapper (Lutjanus jocu Bloch and Schneider 1801) and mahogany snapper (Lutjanus mahogoni Cuvier 1828) are infrequently caught snappers in the southeastern U.S. primarily occurring off of southern Florida. The species were opportunistically sampled from commercial and recreational fisheries in the southeastern U.S. from 1979 to 2015. Fish were aged (56 dog snapper and 54 mahogany snapper) by counting opaque zones on sectioned sagittal otoliths. Otoliths of both species were easily interpretable and agreement between readers was acceptable. Analysis of otolith edge-type revealed that annuli formed between May and July on both species. Dog snapper ranged from 200–837 mm total length (TL) and ages 2–33, while mahogany snapper ranged from 270–416 mm TL and ages 2–18. The Von Bertalanffy growth equations were Lt = 746(1–e(−0.20(t−0.32))) and Lt = 334(1–e(0.31(t+1.19))) for dog snapper and mahogany snapper, respectively. The weight-length relations were W = 1.31 × 10−5L3.03(n = 78, r2 = 0.99) and W = 5.40 × 10−6L3.15(n = 79, r2 = 0.79) for dog snapper and mahogany snapper, respectively, where W = whole weight in grams.
Highlights
The dog snapper, Lutjanus jocu (Bloch & Schneider, 1801), is a moderate- to large- sized snapper (Lutjanidae) occurring infrequently in commercial and recreational reef fish catches in the southeastern U.S (SEUS), which includes North Carolina south through the Florida Keys
Studies of L. mahogoni are limited to examinations of the importance of various habitat types in Caribbean bays to juvenile stages (Nagelkerken et al, 2000a; Nagelkerken et al, 2000b). We studied these two species from the SEUS because little is known of their life history, which is important to managers interested in multi-species or ecosystem-based management
All specimens used in this study were killed as part of legal fishing operations and were already dead when sampled by the port agents; all research was conducted in accordance with the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) and with the US Government Principles for the Utilization and Care of Vertebrate
Summary
The dog snapper, Lutjanus jocu (Bloch & Schneider, 1801), is a moderate- to large- sized snapper (Lutjanidae) occurring infrequently in commercial and recreational reef fish catches in the southeastern U.S (SEUS), which includes North Carolina south through the Florida Keys. The species is distributed in the western Atlantic Ocean from North Carolina to Brazil, into the Gulf of Mexico and throughout the Caribbean Sea, though they are rare north of Florida (Carpenter, 2002). The mahogany snapper, Lutjanus mahogoni (Cuvier, 1828), a smaller member of the Lutjanidae caught infrequently by fishers, is distributed in the western Atlantic. Ocean from the Carolinas to Venezuela and throughout the Caribbean Sea, including the Gulf of Mexico (Carpenter, 2002). Both species are found on coral reefs and rocky hardbottom habitat at depths up to 100 m.
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