30 _ 



: 



10 . 



y o 



20^ 



10-1 



I I I I | 



I I I I 



r^ 



Fall 1979 

 n =121 



"h . HI 



i i i i i < 



50 



f=H=- 



Spring 19B0 

 n = 307 



: P^=t 



-n- 



100 150 200 

 STANDARD LENGTH (mm] 



300 



FIGURE 6. — Standard length frequencies of southern kingfish 

 caught during the fall and spring offshore cruises in the Gulf of 

 Mexico. Total number of fish per cruise is represented by "n". 



in the Tampa Bay area. Loman (1978) reported a 

 much narrower temperature range of 24.0-30.0°C 

 for larval and postlarval fish (4.0-20.0 mm SL). 



The length-frequency distribution recorded dur- 

 ing 1979-80 is comparable to the published reports 

 for 1973-76 (Loman 1978). Growth of southern 

 kingfish is fairly consistent among individuals 

 with the most rapid growth during the first year, as 

 also reported by Hildebrand and Cable (1934) and 

 Bearden ( 1963 ) for southern kingfish on the Atlan- 

 tic coast. Young-of-the-year averaged about 100 

 mm SL by November. Bearden (1963) also reported 

 southern kingfish in South Carolina to reach 

 about 100 mm SL by November of the first year, 

 whereas Hildebrand and Cable (1934) reported a 

 slightly higher average of 135 mm TL by 

 November of the first year in Beaufort. N.C. 



Acknowledgments 



A debt of special thanks is due to Ronald 

 Fritzsche of Humboldt State University, Luther 

 Knight of the University of Mississippi, and 

 Thomas Mcllwain of the Gulf Coast Research 

 Laboratory for their advice and help throughout 

 this study. I thank all the personnel of the Gulf 

 Coast Research Laboratory for their help, cooper- 

 ation, and the use of their facilities. Thanks go also 

 to the members of the Southeast Fisheries Center 

 of the National Marine Fisheries Service for their 

 assistance in obtaining offshore samples. This 

 study was supported by a grant from the Missis- 



sippi Department of Wildlife Conservation, 

 Bureau of Marine Resources. 



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Christmas, J. Y. 



1978. Fisheries assessment and monitoring - Mississip- 

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 9:125-132. 

 GUNTER, G. 



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433 



