Bacheler et al. : Variation in movement patterns of Sciaenops ocellatus 
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Figure 8 
Conceptual diagram of life history and movement patterns of red drum ( Sciae - 
nops ocellatus) in North Carolina. (A) Eggs are spawned in August-September; 
(B) larvae are pelagic in August-November; (C) age-0 juvenile red drum settle to 
benthic habitats in upper estuaries in September-November; (D and E) age-1 and 
age-2 red drum either remain in upper estuaries or migrate downstream to coastal 
habitats in fall; (F) age-3 red drum migrate towards the coast throughout the year; 
(G), multiple age classes of subadult red drum inhabit coastal habitats, eventually 
joining adults after maturity at approximately age 3 or 4 years; (H) nonspawning 
adults on continental shelf (age-4+) overwinter; (I) adults spawn during summer 
months. Dotted lines indicate that a particular pathway is not necessarily followed 
by all members of a cohort in a particular year. 
Carolina appear to be much more likely to move north- 
ward to Virginia than to any other state, even though 
interstate movements were low. Likewise, subadult red 
drum tagged in Virginia have consistently been re- 
covered in North Carolina waters (J. Lucy, personal 
commun. 1 ). Few subadult red drum were captured in 
states southward in our study, and, similarly, tagged 
red drum in South Carolina are rarely recovered in 
North Carolina (C. Wenner, personal commun. 2 ). The 
interstate movement patterns of adult red drum appear 
to mirror those of subadults, showing some northward 
seasonal migration to Virginia each year, but very lim- 
ited exchange with states south of North Carolina. Our 
tagging results indicate that the state line between 
North Carolina and South Carolina corresponds ap- 
proximately to an ecological division for red drum and, 
thus, is an appropriate division for management and 
assessment of the stock. 
1 Lucy, Jon. 2009. Virginia Institute of Marine Science, 
College of William and Mary, Gloucester Point, VA 23062. 
2 Wenner, Charles. 2009. South Carolina Department of 
Natural Resources, Charleston, SC 29412. 
We used a 25-year tagging data set in combination 
with three years of ultrasonic telemetry data and coast- 
al fishery-independent survey data to provide a compre- 
hensive examination of subadult and adult red drum 
movement. Red drum movement patterns in North Car- 
olina were dependent upon the age, region, and season 
of tagging. Longitudinal movements of age-2 red drum 
within a tributary to the Neuse River were related to 
salinity fluctuations, but emigrations from the tribu- 
tary were dependent on season and not salinity. These 
results advance our understanding of the seasonality, 
regional variability, age dependency, and spatial scale 
of movements of fish in complex estuarine and coastal 
environments. 
Acknowledgments 
Funding for field work, data collection, and analyses 
was supported by North Carolina Sea Grant (no. R/ 
MRD-48, R/MRD-52, and E/GS-6), NC Beautiful, the 
Raleigh Saltwater Sportfishing Club, the state of North 
Carolina, and Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration. 
