384 
Fishery Bulletin 96(2), 1 998 
Table 1 
Tag, recapture, and otolith-measurement data for OTC-marked black drum. Otolith measurements were made from the core to the 
proximal edge of the OTC band and all subsequent opaque bands to the otolith edge along the ventral margin of the sulcus acousticus. 
Tagged Recaptured Distance from otolith core (mm) 
Date 
Total length 
(mm) 
Date 
Total length 
(mm) 
Days free 
Age (yr) 
OTC 
mark 
Annulus 
Annulus 
Otolith 
edge 
Jun 
93 
660 
Aug 
93 
656 
42 
3 
2.33 
2.35 
Feb 
93 
836 
Aug 
93 
838 
176 
5 
2.75 
2.86 
Feb 
93 
975 
Aug 
93 
945 
176 
11 
3.99 
4.08 
Feb 
93 
925 
Aug 
93 
921 
176 
11 
3.85 
3.90 
Feb 
93 
940 
Aug 
93 
926 
176 
11 
3.79 
3.86 
Jun 
93 
732 
Jan 
95 
790 
555 
4 
2.39 
2.65 
2.81 
Aug 
93 
832 
Oct 
95 
887 
805 
13 
3.56 
3.62 
3.74 
3.93 
Aug 
93 
899 
Oct 
95 
968 
805 
9 
3.44 
3.50 
3.68 
3.87 
Aug 
93 
922 
Oct 
95 
961 
805 
13 
3.75 
3.81 
3.95 
4.11 
Jun 
93 
711 
Oct 
95 
826 
847 
5 
1.74 
1.83 
2.04 
2.31 
Feb 
93 
975 
Oct 
95 
1,011 
991 
13 
3.61 
3.75 
3.94 
4.13 
Aug 
93 
821 
Oct 
95 
859 
805 
13 
3.73 
3.77 
3.93 
4.09 
Feb 
93 
873 
Oct 
95 
886 
981 
9 
3.00 
3.16 
3.29 
3.51 
Aug 
93 
925 
Oct 
95 
952 
805 
13 
4.03 
4.08 
4.23 
4.40 
Feb 
93 
673 
Oct 
95 
842 
981 
6 
2.50 
2.63 
2.86 
3.10 
Jun 
93 
Oct 
95 
903 
847 
5 
2.44 
2.55 
2.81 
3.03 
Aug 
93 
832 
Oct 
95 
843 
805 
13 
3.77 
3.80 
3.96 
4.11 
Aug 
93 
941 
Oct 
95 
943 
805 
13 
3.95 
4.00 
4.17 
4.33 
Aug 
93 
852 
Oct 
95 
886 
805 
13 
3.98 
4.02 
4.15 
4.29 
Jun 
93 
620 
Oct 
95 
771 
847 
5 
2.37 
2.55 
2.83 
3.06 
Feb 
93 
880 
Dec 
95 
965 
1,031 
9 
3.30 
3.45 
3.67 
3.92 
Feb 
93 
892 
Dec 
95 
936 
1,031 
13 
3.78 
3.90 
4.03 
4.20 
Aug 
93 
782 
Dec 
95 
899 
855 
6 
2.99 
3.08 
3.40 
3.67 
Feb 
93 
790 
Dec 
95 
911 
1,031 
7 
2.79 
2.96 
3.18 
3.44 
Aug 
93 
789 
Dec 
95 
917 
855 
8 
3.24 
3.28 
3.53 
3.76 
Aug 
93 
690 
Oct 
95 
830 
806 
5 
2.55 
2.64 
2.91 
3.24 
spring periods of opaque band formation had oc- 
curred. All of the latter had deposited two bands on 
their otoliths (Fig. 3). 
Our direct validation for most ages from 3 years to 
13 years indicates that for young adult black drum, 
at least, age can be determined accurately by count- 
ing saggital otolith annuli. Our results extend the 
findings of an indirect validation study that had used 
the periodicity of marginal increments as evidence 
for validation of ages for black drum up to age four 
in northeast Florida (Murphy and Taylor, 1989). In 
addition, the seasonal appearance of opaque margins 
on the otolith sections in older black drum between 
20 and 37 years old in the northern Gulf of Mexico 
(Beckman et ah, 1990) is evidence for the validity of 
this aging technique in older fish. In contrast, the 
formation of two growth increments or marks per 
year on scales appears to begin at the time of matu- 
rity; formation of the second mark has been attrib- 
uted to spawning (Richards, 1973). All black drum 
larger than 700 mm FL (717 mm TL) and more than 
four years old that were sampled in the northern Gulf 
of Mexico (Nieland and Wilson, 1993), and all black 
drum larger than 650 mm TL and more than 5 years 
old sampled off northeast Florida ( Murphy and Tay- 
lor, 1989) were mature. Because our samples included 
adult fish of these sizes and ages, they were likely 
mature. Therefore black drum in our sample had 
clearly deposited only one opaque band on the 
sagittae each year for a number of years after they 
first matured. It seems likely then that, unless black 
drum begin to deposit multiple annuli each year af- 
ter they attain some age older than that found in 
our samples, their maximum age would be at least 
equal to the highest reported opaque band count, 
about 60 for black drum in U.S. Atlantic coastal wa- 
ters (Murphy and Taylor, 1989; Jones et al., in press). 
Our relatively small sample of validated ages for 
black drum lends support to previous findings of 
highly variable year-class strength for this species, 
and for the generally rapid growth of some fishes 
inhabiting the Indian River and Mosquito Lagoons. 
Eleven of the 26 black drum we recaptured were 
members of the 1982 year class, the oldest year class 
