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nile spotted seatrout (Hettler, 1989; McMichael and Peters, 

 1989). Additionally, warmer water temperatures have been 

 observed in Florida Bay (Boyer et al., 1999) compared to 

 Tampa Bay (McMichael and Peters, 1989); these warmer 

 temperatures could enhance growth if adequate food is 

 available (Warren, 1971). However, our study and that of 

 McMichael and Peters ( 1989) were quite a few years apart; 

 hence differences that we observed could also be accounted 

 for by interannual variability. In addition, differences in 

 growth could also be attributed to differences in sampling 

 gear between the two studies. 



Florida Bay is a heterogenous ecosystem and consists 

 of ecologically distinct regions (Phlips and Badylak, 1996; 

 Fourqurean and Robblee, 1999); however, we did not de- 

 tect any differences in growth of juvenile spotted seatrout 

 among our three subdivisions. In general, juvenile collec- 

 tions from the central subdivision were from stations that 

 were spatially dispersed; whereas, juvenile collections in 



the western and Gulf transition subdivisions were from 

 relatively few stations (Table 1 ). Normally, the central sub- 

 division is characterized by the highest salinities in the bay 

 and the western and the Gulf transition are characterized 

 by high salinities (Orlando et al., 1997). However, in our 

 study, salinities in the three subdivisions were moderate 

 and similar (Fig 4). and growth rates estimated for the 

 three subdivisions could be useful as baseline rates, par- 

 ticularly in the central subdivision where salinities are 

 commonly hyperhaline (Orlando et al., 1997). 



The spawning habits of spotted seatrout throughout 

 their entire range are generally similar. They have a 

 protracted spawning season, are multiple spawners, and 

 reach sexual maturity at an early age. Initiation of spawn- 

 ing might be temperature dependent, with water tempera- 

 tures between 20° and 23°C necessary to initiate repro- 

 ductive development (Brown-Peterson and Warren, 2001). 

 Hatchdate distributions calculated for spotted seatrout in 



