Clardy et al.: Life history of Menticirrhus americanus and other sciaenids 
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A 
B 
CD 
"O 
O 
O 
C 
TO 
ro 
■ Margin code 4 
□ Margin code 3 
□ Margin code 2 
B Margin code 1 
Month 
Figure 3 
Image of a sagittal otolith and a plot of marginal increments (shown by code) from Southern Kingfish ( Men- 
ticirrhus americanus) collected in Mississippi Sound, Mississippi, between April 2008 and May 2009. (A) 
Transverse section of a sagittal otolith on a Southern Kingfish that was 4+ years old, with the numbered ar- 
rows indicating deposited annuli and MC 3 indicating the margin code. (B) Percentage of fish in each marginal 
increment group, pooled by gender and age, from February to November. There were no data for December 
and January. Margin codes are based on the percentage of translucent area beyond the final opaque ring of 
the otolith (margin code 1=0%, 2=33%, 3=66%, and 4=99%). The numbers above the bars represent, for each 
month, the number of otoliths analyzed for marginal increments. 
