Crabtree et a\ Age and growth of Albula vulpes 



451 



planation. We cannot eliminate the possible exist- 

 ence of a cryptic species in the Keys, but the one speci- 

 men retained in our collection has no obvious mor- 

 phometric or meristic characters to support this idea. 

 Bruger ( 1974) also reported the occurrence of small 

 bonefish from 221 to 352 mm FL with mature ova- 

 ries in the Florida Keys, but he found no morpho- 

 metric or meristic evidence to suggest the presence of 

 a second species. Additional specimens are needed to 

 resolve this issue. 



Acknowledgments 



We thank Capt. John Kipp, who provided us with 

 most of the bonefish examined in this study and with- 

 out whose efforts this work would not have been pos- 

 sible. We also thank Capt. Mike Collins, the Florida 

 Keys Fishing Guides Association, and the Islamorada 

 bonefish tournaments for their support. Thanks to 

 John Swanson, Bill Gibbs, and the staff at the Keys 

 Marine Laboratory for their assistance; Jim 

 Colvocoresses, John Hunt, and others at the South 

 Florida Regional Laboratory for their cooperation; 

 and Victor Neugebauer and Misty Cladas for their 

 assistance. Jim Colvocoresses, Judy Leiby, Rich 

 McBride, Mike Murphy, Jim Quinn, Tom Sminkey, 

 and Dana Winkelman made helpful comments that 

 improved the manuscript. This work was supported 

 in part under funding from the Department of the 

 Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Federal Aid 

 for Sportfish Restoration, Project Number F-59. 



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