DISTRIBUTION, LENGTH-WEIGHT 



RELATIONSHIP, AND LENGTH-FREQUENCY 



DATA OF SOUTHERN KINGFISH, 



MENTICIRRHUS AMERICANUS, IN 



MISSISSIPPI 1 



Populations of southern kingfish, Menticirrhus 

 americanus (Linnaeus), are found in coastal 

 waters from Long Island, N.Y., to Argentina (Ste- 

 vens 1962; Miller 1965; Richards and Castagna 

 1970; Irwin 1970; Johnson 1978). Distribution ap- 

 pears to be continuous, but they are of greatest 

 importance to commercial and sport fisheries 

 along the South Atlantic and Gulf states. In 1978, 

 87,610 kg of southern kingfish valued at $36,085 

 were landed commercially in Mississippi (U.S. 

 Department of Commerce 1977-78). Southern 

 kingfish are caught incidentally by commercial 

 fishermen using otter trawls in Mississippi coastal 

 areas when fishing for shrimp or finfish such as 

 croakers, red drum, and flounders. Southern 

 kingfish ranked ninth in 1978 in economic value 

 among commercial finfish species in Mississippi 

 (third among trawl caught edible finfish) and is 



'This paper is adapted from the author's unpublished Masters 

 Thesis submitted to the University of Mississippi. 



valued along the Gulf coast by sport fishermen 

 who consider it an excellent food fish. 



The majority of data available on southern 

 kingfish is from studies conducted on the Atlantic 

 coast (Welsh and Breder 1924; Hildebrand and 

 Schroeder 1928; Irwin 1970). Little research has 

 been conducted on southern kingfish in Missis- 

 sippi, although information obtained on this 

 species has been part of a large assessment pro- 

 gram on finfishes along the Gulf coast (Christmas 

 and Waller 1973; Loman 1978). Loman (1978) pre- 

 sented the only published works on length fre- 

 quencies and length-weight relationships for 

 southern kingfish in Mississippi. 



The present study was conducted to investigate 

 the distribution of southern kingfish in Missis- 

 sippi coastal waters in relation to geographic 

 range, season, temperature, and salinity. 

 Length-weight relationship and length-frequency 

 data are also presented. 



Study Area 



The study area consisted of the Mississippi 

 coastal waters offshore to a depth of 91.4 m and 

 included four estuarine systems: Biloxi Bay, Bay 

 St. Louis, Pascagoula estuaries, and the smaller 

 Pearl River system (Figs. 1, 2). Salinities and 



89°00 



BB°30' 



30°30' 



A Stations added for 

 this study 



18.5 



Kilometers 



B9°30' 



89°00' 



88°30' 



FIGURE 1.— Locations of stations for southern kingfish in estuaries, barrier islands, and offshore areas of the Mississippi 



Gulf coast sampled monthly. 



FISHERY BULLETIN: VO> -.' NO. 2, 1984. 



427 



