10 



Fishery Bulletin 88(1), 1990 



growth during winter, these lengths would approx- 

 imate those of individuals that are forming the first 

 annulus during the winter. Similarly, a laboratory study 

 of P. deiitatus collected from North Carolina found a 

 mean size of 232.8 mm TL at the end of 1 year under 

 constant conditions, although most growth occurred 

 June-November (Klein-MacPhee 1979). 



Earlier attempts to review the age and growth of 

 P. dentatus along the east coast of the United States 

 (Smith et al. 1981) were not completely successful 

 because of variation in size at first annulus formation. 

 Our data support the estimates of size at first annulus 

 formation proposed by Poole (1961), an interpretation 

 that was not accepted by those at the age and growth 

 workshop (Smith et al. 1981). The latter favored a 

 slower growth estimate based on data from North 

 Carolina estuaries (Powell 1974, 1982). 



An alternate interpretation of the available P. den- 

 tatus growth data, and one that would resolve the 

 above discrepancy, is that YOY P. dentatus from New 

 Jersey grow at a faster rate than do those from North 

 Carolina. This is consistent with the workshop inter- 

 pretation that overall fish growth rate tended to 

 increase from south to north (Smith et al. 1981) and 

 with the presence of larger YOY individuals in more 

 northern fall collections (Fig. 7). The possibility of 

 geographical differences in gr-owth patterns is also con- 

 sistent with the view that northern Mid-Atlantic Bight 

 populations of P. dentatus are distinct from those south 

 of Cape Hatteras (Wilk et al. 1980, Delaney 1986). 



Acknowledgments 



Preparation of this manuscript was supported in part 

 by grants from the New Jersey Fisheries Development 

 Commission, New Jersey Fisheries and Aquaculture 

 Technology Exchange Center, NOAA Sea Grant, New 

 Jersey Marine Science Consortium, and the Center for 

 Coastal and Environmental Studies, Rutgers Univer- 

 sity. P. Berrien provided information on egg distribu- 

 tion, G. Burreson discussed parasite/temperature 

 effects on mortality, and S. Szedlmayer, J. Musick, and 

 J. Defosse pi-ovided comments on an earlier draft. We 

 are grateful to all of the above. 



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