Hayse Feeding, age, growth, and reproduction of Chaetoclipterus faber 



79 



Reproduction 



Few studies have dealt with the reproductive biology 

 of C. faber. Hildebrand and Cable (1938) observed fully 

 mature ripening females at around 135 mm, a size 

 thought to have been attained during the second year 

 (age 1); similarly, I found that all females age 1 and 

 older were mature. Spawning of C. faber off South 

 Carolina occurred May to October, and some females 

 spawned more than once (serially) during this period. 

 Serial spawning may allow fishes to produce a greater 

 number of eggs than would be possible if they spawned 

 only once during the year (DeMartini and Fountain 

 1981). The largest percentage of the fish were prepared 

 to spawn in May, and histological evidence indicated 

 that spawning continued periodically until August. Her- 

 rema et al. (1985) found Atlantic spadefish in spawn- 

 ing condition March through June along the east coast 

 of Florida; however, few Atlantic spadefish were col- 

 lected or examined. Chapman (1978) observed spawn- 

 ing aggregations of C. faber during late July off the 

 coast of Georgia. No fecundity estimates for C. faber 

 exist, but researchers investigating this would probably 

 wish to use batch fecundity methods which utilize ova 

 diameters to establish groups of eggs that will develop 

 and be spawned at different times (DeMartini and 

 Fountain 1981, Hunter et al. 1985). 



The complete life history of the Atlantic spadefish 

 is not well known and warrants further investigation. 

 This study indicated that Atlantic spadefish in South 

 Carolina waters spawn offshore late spring through 

 early fall, with the juveniles subsequently moving into 

 and inhabiting estuarine areas. In the fall, young-of- 

 the-year Atlantic spadefish move into shallow offshore 

 areas, which are also inhabited by age 1 individuals. 

 Historical trawl data from SCWMRD indicated that C. 

 /a6er juveniles were rarely taken in trawls off the coast 

 of South Carolina during winter months, although they 

 were taken in increasing numbers when proceeding 

 southward toward Cape Canaveral, Florida (C.A. Wen- 

 ner. Mar. Resour. Res. Inst., SCWMRD, Charleston, 

 SC 29412, pers. commun., March 1987). In addition, 

 analysis of trawl data from 1973 to 1980, by depth, 

 showed that during the summer young (TLs corre- 

 sponded to age and age 1) Atlantic spadefish off the 

 coasts of Georgia and Florida were located in depths 

 of 20 m or less, while during the winter the majority 

 of the catches were from depths of 28-56 m (G.R. 

 Sedberry, Mar. Resour. Res. Inst., SCWMRD, Charles- 

 ton, SC 29412, pers. commun., March 1987). This sug- 

 gests that the age 0-age 1 group may move southward 

 and into deeper water as the nearshore water cools. 

 Age-2 and older Atlantic spadefish, which are common 

 on South Carolina's artificial reefs and in high-relief 



live-bottom areas during the summer, are apparently 

 rare in these areas during the winter. 



Practically nothing is known of the whereabouts of 

 South Carolina's Atlantic spadefish during the winter, 

 although a commercial trawler reported capturing 

 several thousand C. faber in a single trawl during the 

 winter 50 km off South Carolina's coast (Ogle 1987). 

 Perhaps the fish from artificial reef areas move into 

 deeper water during the winter, returning to these 

 structures the following spring as water temperatures 

 increase along the coast. 



Presently, there is an effort by SCWMRD person- 

 nel to promote tagging of Atlantic spadefish by recrea- 

 tional fishermen (D.L. Hammond, SCWMRD, Charles- 

 ton, SC 29412, pers. commun.. May 1987). Many more 

 fish will probably have to be tagged before adequate 

 returns are seen, but tagging could lead to an increased 

 understanding of C. faber movements, allow population 

 estimates to be made, and, if used in conjunction with 

 tetracycline marking of otoliths, could lead to thorough 

 validation of the ageing technique presented here. 



Acknowledgments 



Financial support for this project was provided by the 

 Sport Fishery Research Foundation and the Slocum- 

 Lunz Foundation. Additional data and many specimens 

 were provided by the MARMAP contract between 

 SCWMRD and NMFS and the Inshore Recreational 

 Fish research progi-am at SCWMRD. C.K. Biernbaum, 

 D. Knott, C. O'Rourke, and P. Wendt helped with iden- 

 tification of stomach contents. I especially thank W.A. 

 Roumillat for help in analyzing histological sections of 

 reproductive tissues. 



Citations 



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1987 Current trends in age determination methodology. In 

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