653 
Abstract— The red snapper (Lutjanus 
campechanus) is currently under rig- 
orous federal and state management 
in the Gulf of Mexico because of appar- 
ent overfishing. Management strategies 
implemented to promote recovery of 
the species are dependent upon knowl- 
edge of various demographic variables, 
including the ages of individuals, the dis- 
tribution of these ages (cohort strength) 
within the population, and maximum 
longevity. Thus a dependable and pre- 
cise aging method is of principal impor- 
tance. Counts of annuli in otolith thin 
sections have been used to age many 
species of fish, including red snapper. 
However, the utility of this method for 
aging red snapper has been questioned 
by those who dispute both the appar- 
ent longevity (over 50 yr) of red snap- 
per and the position of the first annulus 
within the red snapper otolith. 
We counted annuli and assessed edge 
condition in sagittal otoliths of 3791 
red snapper collected from the north- 
ern Gulf of Mexico off Louisiana during 
the periods from 1989 to 1992 and from 
1995 to 1998. Opaque annuli were vali- 
dated by marginal increment analysis 
to form once per year from December 
through June. Estimated ages ranged 
from 0.5 to 52.6 yr for individuals from 
104 mm to 1039 mm total length and 
from 0.02 kg to 22.79 kg total weight. 
Among the 2546 specimens of known 
sex, both sexes evidenced rapid growth 
of individuals until about age 8-10 yr, 
after which growth slows considerably. 
Von Bertalanffy growth models for total 
length at age were significantly differ- 
ent for males and females, indicating 
differential growth between the sexes, 
with females typically obtaining larger 
sizes at older ages than do males. 
Manuscript accepted 15 March 2001. 
Fish. Bull. 99:653-664 (2001). 
Age and growth of red snapper, 
Lutjanus campechanus, from the 
northern Gulf of Mexico off Louisiana* 
Charles A. Wilson 
Coastal Fisheries Institute 
and 
Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences 
School of the Coast and Environment 
Louisiana State University 
Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803-7503 
E-mail address: cwilson@lsu.edu 
David L. Nieland 
Coastal Fisheries Institute 
School of the Coast and Environment 
Louisiana State University 
Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803-7503 
The red snapper , Lutjanus campechanus 
(Poey) (family: Lutjanidae), is resident 
on the continental shelves of the Gulf 
of Mexico (GOM) and northwest Atlan- 
tic Ocean from the Bay of Campeche, 
Mexico, to Massachusetts; however, it is 
found only occasionally north of Cape 
Hatteras, North Carolina (Rivas, 1966; 
Robins and Ray, 1986; Hoese and Moore, 
1998). Although Rivas ( 1966) suggested 
that red snapper may also occur off 
Bermuda, the Bahamas, and northern 
Cuba, it has been reported neither 
from Bermuda by Smith-Vaniz et al. 
(1999) nor from the Bahamas by Bohlke 
and Chaplin (1993), nor from Cuba by 
Allen (1985). The species is replaced 
in the Caribbean Sea and southward 
by the Caribbean red snapper, L. pur- 
pureus (Rivas, 1966; Robins and Ray, 
1986; Hoese and Moore, 1998 ). Although 
the appellation “red snapper” has been 
widely used to identify as many as 
12 commercially marketed lutjanids 
(Camber, 1955; Carpenter, 1965), it is 
correctly applied only to L. campecha- 
nus (Robins et al., 1991). The binomina 
L. ay a, L. blackfordi, and Neomaenis 
ay a, all of which appear in the litera- 
ture (e.g. Moseley, 1966) are synonyms 
of L. campechanus and refer to the red 
snapper sensu Robins et al. (1991). 
The red snapper has been and re- 
mains a significant component of both 
the commercial and recreational fish- 
eries in the GOM. However, document- 
ed commercial landings from United 
States territorial waters declined pre- 
cipitously from historic highs of about 
6389 metric tons (t) in 1965 to 1015 
t in 1991; estimated recreational land- 
ings similarly waned from 4734 t in 
1979 to 581 1 in 1990 (Schirripa and Le- 
gault * 1 ). Since 1991 both fisheries have 
been constrained by size limits, creel or 
trip limits, and quotas as established 
by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Man- 
agement Council (GMFMC). The best 
efforts of the GMFMC and the com- 
mercial and recreational sectors not- 
withstanding, overfishing of red snap- 
per in the GOM may persist (Schirripa 
and Legault 2 ). 
* Contribution LSU-CFI-00-01 of the Coastal 
Fisheries Institute, Louisiana State Uni- 
versity, Baton Rouge, LA 70803-7503. 
1 Schirripa, M. J., and C. M. Legault. 1997. 
Status of the red snapper in U. S. waters 
of the Gulf of Mexico: Updated through 
1996. Contribution rep. MLA-97/98-05 from 
Sustainable Fisheries Division, Miami Lab- 
oratory, Southeast Fisheries Science Cen- 
ter, National Marine Fisheries Service, 
75 Virginia Beach Drive, Miami, FL 
33149-1099. [Not available from NTIS.] 
2 Schirripa, M. J., and C. M. Legault. 1999. 
Status of the red snapper in U. S. waters 
of the Gulf of Mexico: Updated through 
1998. Contribution rep. SFD-99/00-75 from 
Sustainable Fisheries Division, Miami Lab- 
continued 
