702 
Fishery Bulletin 95(4), 1997 
Beaumariage, 1973) that reported that females lived 
longer than males. The 26-year-old female and 24- 
year-old male we found are the oldest king mackerel 
reported. Collins et al. (1989), in the only other study 
that used sectioned otoliths, found a 21-year-old fe- 
male as well as 16-year-old males. The oldest fish 
reported in all other studies that used whole otoliths, 
was age 14 for females and age 12 for males 
(Beaumariage, 1973; Johnson et al., 1983; Manooch 
et al., 1987; Sturm and Salter; 1990). Our findings 
support those of Collins et al. (1989), i.e. that sec- 
tioned sagittae provide higher age estimates than 
whole otoliths for king mackerel, especially for fish 
>85 cm FL. Among females ages 8-12 from the 
Johnson et al. (1983) study (the 1977-78 collections 
in our study), our age estimates based on sagittal 
Table 4 
Total age distributions by 10-cm length class, by region, for all female king mackerel collected during 1986-92. 
Age (yr) 
uize 
(cm) 
0 1 
2 
3 
4 
5 6 
7 
8 
9 
10 
11 
12 
13 
14 15 
16 
17 18 
19 
20 21 22 24 n 
Atlantic Ocean 
35 
25.0 50.0 
25.0 
4 
45 
9.8 84.3 
5.9 
51 
55 
65.1 
34.9 
126 
65 
26.6 
69.3 
3.8 
0.3 
290 
75 
5.0 
41.0 
40.7 
11.2 
1.8 0.4 
735 
85 
0.7 
8.7 
22.9 
27.0 
20.8 11.5 
5.7 
1.4 
0.8 
0.3 
0.1 
0.1 
722 
95 
1.6 
7.4 
8.8 
13.7 18.4 
18.0 
9.0 
7.4 
6.3 
4.7 
2.5 
1.4 
0.6 0.2 
511 
105 
1.6 
5.1 11.0 
15.0 
10.5 
11.3 
10.5 
10.5 
8.6 
5.1 
3.2 2.9 
1.6 
1.9 0.5 
0.5 
0.3 373 
115 
1.2 2.7 
5.9 
9.2 
11.2 
12.1 
10.9 
12.7 
8.9 
5.6 6.2 
5.3 
3.0 1.8 
1.8 
0.9 0.6 338 
125 
0.9 
2.3 
1.8 
6.0 
7.8 
10.6 
9.6 
11.5 
9.2 8.3 
7.8 
8.7 4.1 
5.5 
3.2 1.4 1.4 218 
135 
2.9 
2.9 
2.9 
2.9 
8.8 
8.8 8.8 
8.8 
11.8 8.8 
17.6 
2.9 5.9 2.9 ; 34 
145 
42.9 
14.3 
14.3 
14.3 14.3 7 
155 
25.0 
50.0 
25.0 4 
Eastern Gulf 
35 
100.0 
4 
45 
12.5 87.5 
72 
55 
91.6 
8.4 
249 
65 
34.1 
58.8 
6.6 
0.4 
454 
75 
3.1 
62.7 
25.2 
8.4 
0.6 
512 
85 
0.3 
16.7 
43.4 
24.4 
7.7 3.9 
2.6 
0.3 
0.3 
0.3 
311 
95 
1.8 
13.7 
31.7 
23.2 16.9 
4.6 
1.8 
3.5 
1.4 
0.7 
0.4 
0.4 
284 
105 
0.7 
11.3 
22.5 24.5 
13.9 
8.9 
9.9 
5.0 
0.3 
0.7 
1.0 
0.3 
302 
115 
1.7 
8.4 16.0 
22.3 
13.0 
16.0 
11.3 
4.6 
1.3 
1.7 
0.8 1.3 
1.3 
0.4 
238 
125 
2.2 8.6 
8.1 
11.8 
15.1 
17.2 
6.5 
10.8 
6.5 
5.9 2.7 
0.5 
0.5 2.2 
0.5 
0.5 0.5 186 
135 
0.9 
2.8 
13.2 
7.5 
3.8 
14.2 
11.3 
12.3 9.4 
4.7 
6.6 9.4 
1.9 
1.9 106 
145 
2.3 
2.3 
9.1 
2.3 
11.4 
22.7 9.1 
11.4 
4.5 9.1 
6.8 
2.3 6.8 44 
155 
25.0 
50.0 
25.0 
4 
Western Gulf 
35 
100.0 
10 
45 
91.7 
8.3 
12 
55 
2.5 70.0 
27.5 
80 
65 
35.1 
51.0 
9.9 
4.0 
151 
75 
1.6 
41.4 
41.6 
12.9 
2.3 0.2 
442 
85 
15.2 
33.0 
29.6 
15.7 4.7 
0.8 
0.8 
0.3 
382 
95 
0.5 
11.2 
27.1 
28.5 16.8 
9.3 
2.8 
1.4 
0.9 
0.9 
0.5 
214 
105 
0.6 
12.2 
15.4 21.8 
19.2 
10.9 
7.1 
6.4 
3.8 
0.6 
0.6 
0.6 
0.6 
156 
115 
1.7 
10.3 8.5 
12.0 
10.3 
12.8 
13.7 
11.1 
9.4 
4.3 
0.9 0.9 
1.7 
0.9 1.7 
117 
125 
2.9 2.9 
4.3 
4.3 
12.9 
7.1 
12.9 
12.9 
10.0 
8.6 8.6 
7.1 
2.9 1.4 
1.4 
70 
135 
4.2 
4.2 
16.7 
16.7 
4.2 
12.5 
12.5 8.3 
16.7 
4.2 
24 
145 
16.7 
16.7 
33.3 16.7 
16.7 6 
1 This size class also contained 
one fish (2.9%) at age 26. 
