NOTE Pierce et al.: Age and growth of Harengula jaguana in Florida waters 
205 
Figure 2 
Transverse section of sagittal otoliths of (A) a young Tampa Bay juvenile H. jaguana (71 mm FL, 174 days old) 
and (B) an older Tampa Bay male (131 mm FL, 280 days old; scale bar=0.1 mm), and (C and D) the medial 
reading plane within the larger box shown on the transverse section of A and B, respectively (scale bar=0.02 
mm), c = core; s = sulcus. 
Results 
Relationships between standard, fork, and total lengths, as 
well as weight-length regressions were calculated for fish 
off West Palm Beach and Tampa Bay (Table 1 ). The weight- 
length regressions between sexes for each coast showed no 
significant differences between slopes (ANCOVA, P-1.04, 
df=l, 360, P-0.309 for West Palm Beach; F-2.22, df=l, 
3038, P-0.136 for Tampa Bay) or intercepts (ANCOVA, 
F-1.46, df=l, 361, P= 0.227 for West Palm Beach; F= 3.82, 
df=l, 3039, P-0.0508 for Tampa Bay). The pooled weight- 
length regressions for east and west coasts of Florida 
showed a significant difference between slopes (ANCOVA, 
F= 5.50, df=l, 11,205, P-0.019) but not between intercepts 
(ANCOVA, F-3. 37, df=l, 11,205, P-0.066). Thus, fish from 
off West Palm Beach were heavier at length than fish from 
Tampa Bay. The relationship of sagittal medial axis (OR) 
to fish length (FL) was linear (Table 1; Fig. 1, A-D). 
Harengula jaguana otoliths from field collections were 
difficult to interpret (Fig. 2, A-D). Fifty-five percent of the 
counted sagittae had to be examined a fourth time and 
overall 84 (25%) of the sagittae were rejected. Yet, incre- 
ment formation appeared to be daily for the laboratory- 
reared fish. Forty-five otoliths produced an average of 14.5 
increments (SE-0.20) between the first and second OTC 
marks in an elapsed time of 15 days. Eleven otoliths aver- 
aged 21.0 increments (SE-0.25) between the second and 
third OTC marks in 22 days. The mean age of the OTC- 
