343 



Abstract— Growth, recruitment, and 

 abundance of young-of-the-year (YOY) 

 striped mullet (Mugil cephalus L.) in 

 estuarine habitats in South Carolina 

 from 1998 to 2000 were examined and 

 compared to historical data (1986-91) 

 of growth, recruitment, and abundance. 

 Daily growth increments from the sag- 

 ittal otoliths of juvenile striped mullet 

 were validated by using fish immersed 

 in oxytetracycline hydrochloride (OTC) 

 for five hours from the Charleston 

 Harbor Estuary system. The distribution 

 of back-calculated birthdates indicated 

 that striped mullet spawn from Octo- 

 ber to late April and estuarine recruit- 

 ment occurs from January through 

 May. Juveniles were more abundant 

 in mesohaline and polyhaline salinity 

 regimes but were found throughout the 

 estuary. Juvenile growth after recruit- 

 ment into the estuary can be described 

 by the relationship Total length (mm) = 

 0.341 (Age)i04 (r2=o.741, P=0.001). 

 Growth of juveniles according to the 

 analysis of size-frequency data from 

 historical surveys ( 1986 to 1991 ) in the 

 same estuaries gave the relationship 

 Total length (mm) = 8.77 {month)^ ■- 

 (r2=0.950, P=0.001). The similarity in 

 the growth curves for both groups offish 

 suggests that juvenile striped mullet in 

 South Carolina have consistent annual 

 growth during the first year of life. 



Growth, recruitment, and abundance of 

 juvenile striped mullet {Mugil cephalus) 

 in South Carolina estuaries* 



Christopher J. McDonough 



Charles A. Wenner 



Marine Resources Research Institute 



South Carolina Department ol Natural Resources 



217 Fort Johnson Rd 



Charleston, South Carolina 29422-2559 



E-mail address (for C J McDonough, contact author) mcdonoughcfa-mrd dnrstate scus 



Manuscript accepted 12 December 2002. 



Manuscript received 31 December 2002 

 at NMFS Scientific Publications Office. 



Fish. Bull. 101:343-357 (2003). 



The striped mullet (Mugil cephalus ) is 

 distributed circumglobally in tropical 

 and semitropical waters between lati- 

 tudes 42°N and 42°S (Thomson, 1963; 

 Rossi et al., 1998). The species can be 

 found year round throughout the full 

 range of estuarine salinities (including 

 freshwater) in the southeastern United 

 States (Jacot, 1920; Anderson, 1958). 

 Striped mullet are harvested commer- 

 cially throughout the world and used 

 in aquaculture. Along the southeastern 

 coast of the United States there are sig- 

 nificant commercial fisheries in North 

 Carolina and Florida. South Carolina 

 and Georgia have smaller landings 

 (Statistics and Economic Division^. 

 The species is also harvested in the 

 Gulf Coast states. 



Fishing for striped mullet (for "roe 

 fish") is most intense during the fall 

 spawning migration. Throughout the 

 rest of the year striped mullet are fished 

 commercially for bait, if they are fished 

 at all (Anderson, 1958). Landings of this 

 species in the areas where it is heavily 

 fished were significant and yielded an 

 economic value of 38.2 million dollars 

 from 1994 to 1998 (Statistics and Eco- 

 nomic Division' ). Striped mullet are also 

 one of the most important forage fishes 

 in the estuaries of the southeast and 

 represent a significant food source for 

 upper-level piscivores (Wenner et al.^). 



Striped mullet spawn from October 

 through February along the southeast 

 coast of the United States (Jacot,1920; 

 Broadhead, 1956; Anderson, 1958; Ar- 

 nold and Thompson, 1958;Stenger, 1959; 

 Dindo and MacGregor, 1981; Greeley et 

 al., 1987; Render et al, 1995; and Hef- 

 tier et al., 1997) and are considered iso- 

 chronal spawning fishes (Greeley et al.. 



1987; Render et al, 1995) (i.e. they have 

 synchronous gamete development and 

 spawn all their reproductive material 

 at once or in batches over a very short 

 period of time). There have been few ob- 

 servations of spawning activity (Arnold 

 and Thompson, 1958) and eggs and yolk- 

 sac larvae have rarely been collected off- 

 shore (Anderson, 1958; Finucane et al., 

 1978; Collins and Stender, 1989). 



Juvenile striped mullet recruit to 

 the estuarine nursery habitat in South 

 Carolina as early as December (Cain 

 and Dean, 1976); this movement con- 

 tinues into June, peaking in February 

 and March (Jacot, 1920; Mc(3ovem and 

 Wenner, 1990). Juveniles are 18-30 mm 

 total length (TL) at recruitment and have 

 the silvery sheen of the pelagic stage. 

 They are more laterally compressed than 

 older juveniles and adults and hence are 

 more streamline in shape. This shape is 

 lost after they reach inshore waters at 

 32 mm TL (Eggold and Motta, 1992). 



* Contribution 507 of the Marine Resources 

 Research Institute, South Carolina Depart- 

 ment of Natural Resources, Charleston, SC 

 29412. 



' Statistics and Economics Division. 2000. 

 Personal commun. Statistics and Eco- 

 nomic Division, National Marine Fisheries 

 Service, 1315 East- West Hwy, Silver Spring, 

 MD 20910. http://www.st.nmfs.gov/stl/ 

 index.html. 



- Wenner, C. A.. W. A. Roumillat, J. E. Moran, 

 M. B. Maddox, L. B. Daniel, and J. W. Smith. 

 1990. Investigations on the life history 

 and population dynamics of marine recre- 

 ational fishes in South Carolina, part 1, p. 

 6-35. South Carolina Marine Resources 

 Research Institute, Completion reports. 

 Project F-37, Charleston and Project F-31, 

 Brunswick. Marine Resources Research 

 Institute, PO. Box 12559, Charieston, SC 

 29422-2559. 



