662 
Fishery Bulletin 99(4) 
Figure 7 
Comparative von Bertalanffy growth models for red snapper, Lutjanus campechanus, from the western north 
Atlantic Ocean. S&S 94 = Szedlmayer and Shipp (1994), P 99 = Patterson (1999), N&M 82 = Nelson and 
Manooch (1982), and M&P 97 = Manooch and Potts (1997). Males and Females are from our study. 
revealed it to be only 19.98 yr. Conversely, the two oldest 
red snapper we encountered, age 52.63 and 51.73 yr, were 
a comparatively small 851 mm TL and 862 mm TL, respec- 
tively, and 7.886 kg TW and 9.188 kg TW, respectively. A 
similar pattern was noted by Patterson (1999) among the 
red snapper that he sampled from the GOM off Alabama. 
Personnel at the LSU Coastal Fisheries Institute con- 
tinue to investigate the nuances of deriving red snapper 
ages from sagittal otoliths. Although our marginal incre- 
ment analysis demonstrates that a single opaque incre- 
ment is formed each year, our sample size among older 
individuals, albeit larger than any previous investigation, 
is probably inadequate for absolute validation of this phe- 
nomenon. Thus, some have and will continue to question 
once yearly annulus accretion among red snapper older 
than 20 yr. A solution for this problem may lie in radio- 
metric aging techniques with protocols that analyze vari- 
ous radionuclides in the otoliths. Also, core-to-first-annu- 
lus measurements made on otolith sections from age-0 
and age-1 individuals would contribute to a better under- 
standing of when and how the first annulus is accreted. 
Acknowledgments 
We appreciate the able assistance of Ed Moss (LDWF), 
Bruce Thompson, Scott Baker, and many others in our red 
snapper sampling efforts. To Louise Stanley (reader 1) and 
Andrew Fischer (reader 2), we offer our gratitude not only 
for assistance in sampling, but also for the many long hours 
at the microscope counting annuli. Jane and Lonnie Black 
of USA Fish, Golden Meadow and Cameron, LA, graciously 
allowed us access to their facilities. We also thank Joey 
Trosclair and the employees of Trosclair Canning Com- 
pany, Cameron, LA, for their help and the many commer- 
cial and recreational fishermen who allowed us to sample 
their catches. Michael Schirripa, National Marine Fisher- 
ies Service, is gratefully recognized for his many tangible 
contributions to our red snapper research. The comments 
of Richard Shaw, Brigitte Nieland, and three anonymous 
reviewers contributed greatly to the manuscript. Funding 
for this research was provided by the U. S. Department 
of Commerce Marine Fisheries Initiative (MARFIN) Pro- 
gram (grant numbers NA90AA-H-MF762, NA57FF0287, 
and NA77FF0544). Finally, we take great pride in dedi- 
cating this paper to the memory of Jeffery H. Render, our 
friend and colleague, for his pioneering efforts in the study 
of red snapper life history in the northern GOM. 
Literature cited 
Allen, G. R. 
1985. FAO species catalogue. Vol. 6: Snappers of the world: 
an annotated and illustrated catalogue of lutjanid species 
known to date, 208 p. FAO, Rome. 
