723 



Abstract-The red porgy (Pagruspag- 

 rus) \s an important component of the 

 Gulf of Mexico reef-fish fishery, yet 

 Httle information is available on this 

 species's life history. We sampled 877 

 red porgy (194-489 mm TL) from the 

 eastern Gulf of Mexico during 1995 

 and 1996 to assess their age structure, 

 growth, mortality, spawning season, 

 size and age at maturity, and batch 

 fecundity The average length of males 

 was significantly greater than that of 

 females, and the overall sex ratio (1:1.6 

 in favor of females I was significantly 

 different from 1:1. Marginal-increment 

 analysis indicated that one opaque ring 

 is formed on red porgy otoliths during 

 the late spring or early summer of each 

 year. Ages ranged from 1 to 17 years, 

 and most fish were 3 and 8 years old. 

 Von Bertalanffy growth model param- 

 eters were L„=459 mm TL, A'=0.in/yr, 

 and /u=-6.6 .years for all aged fish. 

 Growth rates in our study were lower 

 than those in previous studies of Gulf of 

 Mexico red porgy— perhaps the result 

 of size-selective fishing. Pooled esti- 

 mates of total instantaneous mortality 

 were 0.62-0.87/yr based on recreational 

 landings data and 0.54/yr based on 

 commercial landings data. Red porgy 

 are protogv'nous hermaphrodites. The 

 length and age at which males com- 

 posed 50% of the population was 345.5 

 mm TL and 5.3 years. Few immature 

 females were observed in our collec- 

 tions (n=10). All females gi-eater than 

 302 mm TL and age 4 were mature. 

 Red porgy spawn during the winter and 

 spring, and ripe females were caught 

 from January to April. 



Age, growth, mortality, and reproduction 

 of red porgy, Pagrus pagrus, 

 from the eastern Gulf of Mexico 



Peter B. Hood 



Florida Marine Research Institute 



Flonda Department ol Environmental Protection 



100 Eighth Avenue SE, St Petersburg, Flonda 33701-5095 



Present address: Gulf ol Mexico Fishery Management Council 



3018 U.S. Hwy 301 North, Suite 1000 



Tampa, Florida 33619-2266 

 E mail address: peterhoodfffigulfcouncilorg 



Andrea K. Johnson 



College ol Veterinary Medicine 

 North Carolina State University 

 4700 Hillsborough St 

 Raleigh. North Carolina 27606 



Manuscript accepted 21 April 2000 

 Fish. Bull. 98:723-735 (20001. 



The red porgy, Pagrus pagrus, occurs 

 in the eastern Atlantic from the Brit- 

 ish Isles south to Angola and in the 

 western Atlantic from New York to 

 Argentina (Manooch and Hassler, 1978; 

 Randall and Vergara, 1978). In the Gulf 

 of Mexico (GOM), red porgy are usu- 

 ally found near hard-bottom areas off 

 the west-central Florida coast and the 

 Florida Middle Ground, and the Flower 

 Garden Banks off Texas (Smith et al., 

 1975; Nelson, 1988). Studies of reef 

 habitat along the southeastern United 

 States indicate that red porgies are 

 most common over inshore live-bottom 

 habitats and over shelf-edge, rocky-rub- 

 ble, and rock outcrop habitats (Grimes 

 et al., 1982; Barans and Henry, 1984; 

 Chester et al., 1984; Sedberry and Van 

 Dolah, 1984). 



Most red porgy caught in the GOM 

 are landed in Florida. From 1986 to 

 1991, an average of 83.6''c of the com- 

 mercially caught and 76.79f of the recre- 

 ationally caught red porgy were landed 

 there (Goodyear and Thompson'). Red 

 porgy are an important component of 

 the Florida west coast commercial reef- 

 fish fishery and rank thirteenth in total 

 weight of reef fish landed in this area 

 (Goodyear and Thompson'). In Florida 

 commercial landings data, red porgy 

 are not distinguished from other por- 

 gies. However, assuming that red por- 

 gies made up 50'7( of all porgies landed 



(Goodyear and Thompson'), the com- 

 bined west coast 1995 and 1996 Flor- 

 ida landings of this species were es- 

 timated at 0.5 million pounds and 

 had an estimated dockside value of 

 $487,000 (Marine Fisheries Information 

 System- ). Over the same period, an esti- 

 mated 242,000 red porgy were landed 

 by anglers in Florida (Marine Recre- 

 ational Fishery Statistics Survey'). 80% 

 by charter boats or headboats (Good- 

 year and Thompson' ). 



Currently there are no regulations 

 on red porgy harvest in the GOM. Fish- 

 ery managers are concerned that the 

 harvest of reef-fish species, such as red 

 porgy, may increase if the fishery shifts 

 effort from red snapper to these spe- 

 cies because of increasing restrictions 



' Goodyear, C. P., and N. B. Thompson. 

 1993. An evaluation of data on size and 

 catch limits of red porgy in the Gulf 

 of Mexico. Contribution report MLA-92/ 

 93-67. National Marine Fishenes Service, 

 Southeast Fisheries Center, Miami Labora- 

 tory, Miami, FL. 



- Marine Fisheries Information System. 

 1997. Unpubl. data. Florida Fish and 

 Wildlife Conservation Commission, 100 

 Eighth Avenue SE, St. Petersburg, FL 

 .33701-5095. 



■' Marine Recreational r Fishery Statistics 

 Survey IMRFSS). 1997. Unpubl. data. 

 Fisheries Statistics Division, National 

 Marine Fisheries Service, Department of 

 Commerce, Silver Springs, MD 20910. 



