DeVries and Grimes: Spatial and temporal variation in age and growth of Scomberomorus cavalla 
697 
Table 1 
Geographical distribution of aged king mackerel for 1977-78, 1986-92, and each year from 1986 to 1992. N.E. Florida = Nassau- 
Flagler County. E. Florida = Volusia-Palm Beach County. S.E. Florida = Broward-Dade County. S. Florida = Monroe County. S.W. 
Florida = Sarasota-Collier County. W. Florida = Citrus-Manatee County. N.W. Florida = Escambia-Levy County. N. Texas = 
Jefferson-Calhoun County. S. Texas = Aransas-Cameron County. 
Number aged 
State Females Males 
or 
Region 
area 
77-78 
86-92 
86 
87 
88 
89 
90 
91 
92 
77-78 
86-92 
86 
87 
88 
89 
90 
91 
92 
Atlantic 
Virginia 
20 



16 
1 

3 

3 



1 
1 

1 
Ocean 
N. Carolina 
234 
1,982 
64 
134 
68 
313 
454 
402 547 
71 
1,239 
59 
101 
37 255 
274 
230 
S. Carolina 
88 
568 
55 
99 
113 
70 
55 
78 
98 
56 
255 
31 
25 
50 
38 
38 
31 
42 
Georgia 
— 
292 
24 
5 
45 
98 
63 
13 
44 
— 
144 
5 
9 
15 
41 
35 
2 
37 
N.E. Florida 
— 
52 
21 
31 
— 
6 
5 
1 
E. Florida 
— 
459 
30 
56 
22 
5 
21 
171 
154 
— 
379 
63 
77 
74 
6 
14 
12 
133 
S.E. Florida 
— 
34 
6 
15 
10 
3 
— 
— 
- 
— 
57 
14 
20 
23 
— 
— 
— 
— 
Eastern 
S. Florida 
6 
215 
5 
1 
2 
29 
36 
75 
67 
12 
132 
6 
2 
3 
27 
31 
24 
39 
Gulf 
S.W. Florida 
5 
W. Florida 
— 
110 
2 
— 
— 
— 
— 
— 
108 
— 
14 
2 
2 
— 
— 
— 
— 
10 
N.W. Florida 
532 
1,209 
51 
94 
96 
227 
128 
321 
292 
283 
643 
7 
49 
22 
125 
79 
215 
146 
Alabama 
— 
303 
50 
172 
54 
7 
9 
3 
8 
— 
122 
22 
60 
29 
— 
9 
1 
1 
Mississippi 
7 
290 
31 
55 
51 
6 
69 
47 
31 
— 
104 
7 
8 
31 
4 
26 
12 
16 
Louisiana 
466 
628 
23 
61 
56 
46 
39 
195 208 
48 
265 
22 
14 
12 
12 
2 
108 
95 
Western 
Louisiana 
147 
1 
1 
2 
Gulf 
N. Texas 
41 
281 
— 
45 
90 
54 
14 
47 
31 
38 
181 
4 
27 
56 
30 
14 
23 
27 
S. Texas 
— 
1,026 
48 
158 
130 
184 
134 
206 
166 
— 
553 
44 
103 
39 
79 
74 
102 
112 
Veracruz 
— 
225 
— 
— 
6 
47 
75 
50 
47 
— 
183 
— 
— 
9 
44 
31 
53 
46 
Campeche 
— 
21 
— 
— 
— 
13 
8 
— 
- 
— 
16 
— 
— 
— 
7 
9 
— 
— 
Yucatan 
— 
106 
— 
— 
62 
— 
1 
37 
6 
— 
57 
— 
— 
19 
— 
— 
24 
14 
samples sizes and the sampling was more limited 
geographically and temporally. 
During 1986-92, the overall age distributions of 
samples were quite similar among regions and be- 
tween sexes within regions, but during 1977-78 they 
varied noticeably (Fig. 2). Maximum ages of king 
mackerel from 1986-92 in the Atlantic, eastern Gulf, 
and western Gulf were 26 ( 137 cm), 21 (127-150 cm), 
and 24 ( 144 cm) for females and 24 ( 117 cm), 22 ( 110 
cm), and 23 (101 cm) for males. Maximum ages from 
1977-78 samples from the same respective regions 
were 20, 19, and 18 for females and 18, 19, and 19 
for males. Fish older than age 20 were very rare in 
the 1986-92 samples — only 22 of 7,822 females 
(0.15%) and 13 of 4,358 males (0.18%). 
Growth 
Growth was significantly different between sexes 
(P<0.01 in 1986-92) in each region during 1986-92 
and 1977-78, and females grew faster and larger 
than males at every age (Fig. 3; Table 3). Although 
we did not test the 1977-78 data with Hotelling’s T 2 , 
it is obvious that the confidence limits do not over- 
lap (Fig. 3). During 1986-92, the predicted sizes at 
age of females were at least 20 cm larger than males 
by age 13, 9, and 11 in the Atlantic, eastern Gulf, 
and western Gulf, respectively. 
Age-at-size was highly variable in all regions for 
both sexes, especially after fish reached 70 cm FL 
(Tables 4 and 5). For example, Atlantic females 100.1 
to 110.0 cm FL ranged from age 4 to 20, whereas 
males from that same region and size ranged from 
age 6 to 22. 
The pooled 1986-92 data showed that growth was 
highest in the eastern Gulf, intermediate in the west- 
ern Gulf, and lowest in the Atlantic for both sexes, and 
the differences, which were greatest among females, 
were statistically significant (P<0.01) (Fig. 3; Table 3). 
Asymptotic length (LJ was the parameter most often 
(7 of 9 instances) responsible for the significant differ- 
ences between growth curves (Table 3), although twice 
it was t 0 . Estimates ofL^ were 126.7, 134.1, and 137.8 
cm for Atlantic, western Gulf, and eastern Gulf females, 
and 96.4, 102.8, and 102.6 cm for males (Table 6). Above 
age 7 years, the predicted size at age of eastern Gulf 
