BIOLOGY OF THE WHITEBONE PORGY, CALAMUS LEUCOSTEUS, IN 



THE SOUTH ATLANTIC BIGHT 1 



C. Wayne Waltz, William A. Roumillat, and Charles A. Wenner 2 



ABSTRACT 



Whitebone porgy, Calamus leucosteus, were taken in trawl surveys over reef and nonreef habitats in 

 the South Atlantic Bight in depths of 11 to 88 m. Larger individuals were taken in greater depths. 

 Twelve age groups can be identified with sectioned otoliths and nine using scales. Annulus 

 formation for otoliths and scales occurs between June and July. Von Bertalanffy growth equations of 

 Lt = 331 [l _ e l >™,.*2«39o 1 J from otoliths and Lf = 362 [l- e- 02611 «' t03973 ] from scales suggest that 

 attainment of maximum size for this species is similar to reports for other reef species. The fork 

 length-weight relationship for C. leucosteus can be described by W— 0.00004 FL 2907 . The whitebone 

 porgy is a protogynous hermaphrodite: younger, smaller fish are predominately females, and older, 

 large fish are mostly males. Sexual transition most commonly occurs between ages II-IV and fork 

 lengths 18-25 cm. Peak spawning occurs in May with total fecundity ranging from 30,400 to 

 1,587,400 eggs. The fecundity-weight relationship can be described by F = 10.29438 W IJB62 . 

 Regional landings data are not available for C. leucosteus; however, it was the third and fourth most 

 abundant species by weight from trawler landings in South Carolina during 1979 and 1980. 



The whitebone porgy, Calamus leucosteus, 

 occurs from the Carolinas south to the Florida 

 keys and throughout the Gulf of Mexico (Fischer 

 1978). Although more abundant and more 

 frequently encountered in or near sponge-coral 

 habitats at depths from 10 to 100 m (Fischer 

 1978; Powles and Barans 1980), individuals are 

 sometimes taken from predominantly sandy 

 bottoms (Wenner et al. 1979). This species is of 

 commercial importance to trawl fishermen, but 

 little information is available on its life history. 

 The purpose of this paper is to present data on 

 age, growth, reproductive biology, distribution, 

 and relative abundance of C. leucosteus in the 

 South Atlantic Bight. 



MATERIALS AND METHODS 



Distribution and relative abundance were 

 determined from seasonal (fall 1973 to winter 

 1977) stratified random otter trawl surveys 

 (Grosslein 1969) from Cape Fear, N.C., to Cape 

 Canaveral, Fla. Sampling was conducted from 

 the RV Dolphin with a 3/4 scale version of a 

 Yankee No. 36 otter trawl (Wilk and Silverman 

 1976) towed for 0.5 h at 6.5 km/h. 



Most specimens (~98%) used for analysis of age, 



'MARMAP Contribution No. 190 and Contribution No. 141 

 of the South Carolina Marine Resources Research Institute. 



2 South Carolina Wildlife and Marine Resources Depart- 

 ment. P.O. Box 12559. Charleston. SC 29412. 



growth, and reproductive biology were collected 

 with otter trawls (3/4 Yankee No. 36, 40/54 fly 

 net, University of Rhode Island high rise trawl 

 (Hillier 1974)) from 1975 to 1980. The remainder 

 were caught with baited fish traps and hand- 

 lines. Fish were weighed (nearest gram) and 

 measured (nearest mm total length [TL], fork 

 length [FL], and standard length [SL]). Sagittae 

 and scales from beneath and/or just behind the 

 posterior edge of the pectoral fin below the lat- 

 eral line were removed and stored dry. Impres- 

 sions of several scales from each fish were made 

 on clear acetate sheets with a model C Carver 

 Laboratory Press 3 (1,547-1,687 kg/cm 2 , 65.5°C, 

 5-10 min). Readability was reduced in large oto- 

 liths due to clouding of the central area and 

 crowding of the rings along the outer margin; 

 opaqueness also increased in all otoliths with 

 storage time. These problems were corrected by 

 preparing dorsal-ventral cross sections (~0.4 

 mm thick) on a plane perpendicular to the ante- 

 rior-posterior axis through the center of the nu- 

 cleus with a Buehler Isomet low speed saw. 



Aging structures were analyzed using trans- 

 mitted light on a microprojector at 40X. Scale 

 measurements were made on a line through the 

 center of the scale from the focus to the outer 

 edge, whereas otolith measurements were 

 taken from the center of the nucleus to the outer 



Manuscript accepted February 1982. 

 FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 80. NO. 4. 1982. 



3 Reference to trade names does not imply endorsement by 

 the National Marine Fisheries Service. NOAA. 



863 



