Sixty-three percent of the recaptures were 

 within 30 d of release. No fish were recaptured 

 after 11 December 1979 despite continued 

 fishing effort on the ship reef during the winter 

 and spring of 1980. 



Measurements from the seven fish recaptured 

 by our own sampling yielded growth rates of 

 0.12-0.55 mm/d (mean = 0.29 mm/d). Based on 

 age determination from our length-frequency 

 plots, these represent growth rates of age 1+ 

 snapper. Lengths of recaptured red snapper re- 

 ported by sportfishermen were not considered 

 accurate enough to use for growth determina- 

 tions. 



Discussion 



Bimodal size distributions of red snapper 

 caught in trawls and traps indicate that juve- 

 nile red snapper grow more slowly than pre- 

 viously thought. Moseley (1966) presented the 

 first detailed account of growth rates for snapper 

 using scale annuli for age determination. He 

 assumed that growth checks were produced 

 during the spawning period rather than during a 

 midwinter slow growth period, an assumption 

 confirmed by later workers (Futch and Bruger 

 1976). Moseley (1966) found that fish with one 

 spawning check averaged 250 mm and deter- 

 mined a growth rate of about 90 mm between 

 spawnings (about 0.25 mm/d). He proposed that 

 red snapper grow 200-230 mm during their first 

 year. Bradley and Bryan (1975) cited other un- 

 published data from Texas which indicated an 

 initial growth check on scales at about 200 mm 

 fork length and a mean growth rate of 60 mm/yr 

 between formation of the first and the fifth rings. 

 Futch and Bruger (1976) determined that 

 maturity is probably reached after the second 

 year (age 11+) in Florida. Their data also 

 indicated that the first growth check (on otoliths) 

 generally occurred on snapper of about 200 mm. 



A slower growth rate could be inferred from 

 otolith, scale, and vertebrae aging by Bortone 

 and Hollingsworth (1980) who found that 

 snapper with one growth check averaged 163 

 mm and snapper with two growth checks 

 averaged 197 mm. Small sample size (46) and 

 one sampling date (17 October) may have influ- 

 enced their results. That snapper mature at age 

 11+ (Futch and Bruger 1976) and produce growth 

 checks as a result of spawning activity suggest 

 that fish with a single annulus are not age 1+ as 

 Moseley (1966) suggested but are age II+. Our 



data are consistent with this hypothesis. The dis- 

 tinct bimodality in length frequencies of snapper 

 <220 mm during June through December (Fig. 1) 

 indicates the presence of two year classes within 

 this size range. We propose that red snapper 

 grow to 110-130 mm during the first year and 

 attain a size of 220-230 mm the second year. It is 

 at this size (age II) that they apparently reach 

 sexual maturity (Camber 1955; Futch and 

 Bruger 1976). This growth rate is consistent with 

 established postspawning growth rates of 60 

 (Bradley and Bryan 1975) to 90 mm/yr (Moseley 

 1966) between the first and fourth or fifth 

 spawnings. 



Red snapper >160 mm were uncommon in our 

 trawl samples. Bradley and Bryan (1975) also 

 collected few snapper between 150 mm and 220 

 mm in trawl or hook and line catches. Numerous 

 fish of this size were trapped at the ship reef in 

 July and September. Tagging data indicated 

 that 130-250 mm (age I and early age II) snapper 

 were abundant on the ship reef from July 

 through September and some remained there 

 through November or December. The absence of 

 tag returns after December indicates that the 

 fish present there all summer and fall either 

 moved away, presumably to deeper water 

 (Moseley 1966; Bradley and Bryan 1976) or had 

 suffered substantial mortality. Fable (1980) 

 found essentially no movement in 17 returns 

 from 299 tagged red snapper in 60 m of water off 

 the Texas coast. 



Conclusions 



1. We suggest that growth rates of juvenile 

 red snapper during the first 2 yr are slower than 

 previously reported. Our data indicate snapper 

 attain a length of 110-130 mm the first year and 

 200-230 mm the second year. 



2. Juvenile snapper <150 mm were common 

 in trawl samples throughout most of the year. 



3. Snapper 130-250 mm were common on the 

 artificial reef from July through December. 

 Tagging studies indicated the snapper remain 

 around the artificial reef during the summer and 

 fall but none were captured there or elsewhere 

 after December. 



Acknowledgments 



We would like to thank the captain and crew of 

 the RV Longhorn for their competence and 

 assistance in doing the field work. Special thanks 



647 



