NATURAL HISTORY OF REDFISH, ETC., OF TEXAS 



145 



GROWTH AND AGE 



During the first two years of life the growth of the redfish is very rapid. Spawned 

 about October, 1925, the fish making up the 1925 year class reached a mean total 

 length of 21.5 centimeters (8.4 inches) by the end of May, 1926 (May 30 to June 6). 

 (Consult Table 8 and fig. 9.) Comparably, the succeeding year class, hatched in 

 October or November, 1926, attained approximately the same mean length of 21.5 

 centimeters by the end of May, 1927 (May 8 to 22). By the 1st of October, 1926 

 (October 3 to 10), the 1925 year class had grown to a mean length of 33.7 centimeters 

 (13.3 inches). The growth of this class continued rapidly, although becoming 

 reduced during the winter months, and by the end of May, 1927, when about 1)4, 

 years of age, the group reached a mean length of 43.6 centimeters (17.1 inches), with 

 a length distribution from 36 to 51 centimeters (14 to 20 inches). This growth 

 during the first year of life may be clearly followed by inspection of Tables 7 and 8 

 and Figure 9. 



MEAN 



LENGTH 



CMS, 



50 



1926 1927 



¥ic,. 9.— Growth of rodflsh during first 14 months of life. (Based on Table 8) 



T.\BLE 7. — Length-frequency dislribalion of redjish taken in Texas, March, 19^H, to May, 1927 

 [Collections summarized into approximate bimonthly periods] 



