2.731 -, 



2340 - 



1.948 - 



X 

 \- 



cd 



z 



LU 



_l 

 CD 



o 



1.557- 



1.165- 



0.774 



1.843 



1.970 



2.096 2.223 



LOG WEIGHT 



2.349 



2476 



FIGURE 4. — Length-weight regression for all southern kingfish caught from October 1979 through September 1980. 



catches from Biloxi Bay, Miss., and by Miller 

 (1965) while trawling off Port Aransas, Tex. 



The salinity range of 2.0-36.61 is slightly 

 broader than the range of 5.0-35.5 "L reported by 

 Christmas and Waller (1973). Loman (1978) re- 

 ported that the highest catches of southern 

 kingfish in Mississippi were between 15.0 and 

 30.0 and that mean length increased as salinity 

 increased. The latter was also true in this study 

 since larger fish were captured offshore where 



salinities were higher, and only postlarval and 

 young-of-the-year fish were found in salinities 

 below 15.0 . 



I concur with most authors that this species is 

 eurythermal (Gunter 1945; Franks 1970; Christ- 

 mas and Waller 1973; Loman 1978). While Loman 

 (1978) reported southern kingfish in Mississippi 

 coastal waters with temperatures as low as 7.0°C, 

 the highest previously recorded temperature was 

 31.0°C reported by Springer and Woodburn (1960) 



431 



