Clardy et al.: Life history of Menticirrhus americanus and other sciaenids 
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Figure 5 
Gonadal development of Southern Kingfish (Menticirrhus americanus) sampled from the 
Mississippi Sound, Mississippi, from April 2008 to May 2009. (A) Plot of mean values in a 
gonadosomatic index for male and female Southern Kingfish (for sample sizes of each sex, 
see Table 1). Error bars indicate ±1 standard error; in several months the error bars for 
males, are hidden by the data point symbol. Data points are significantly different (P<0.05) 
if letter labels are not the same. (B) Photomicrograph of a female Southern Kingfish in the 
spawning-capable phase. Labels indicate the following oocyte stages: cortical alveoli (CA), 
primary vitellogenic (Vtgl), secondary vitellogenic (Vtg2), tertiary vitellogenic (Vtg3), and 
postovulatory follicle complex (POF). 
moderate maximum TL, age, RBF, duration of spawning 
season, and b values. Group E comprises fishes from all 
3 regions; Spotted Seatrout (Cynoscion nebulosus) from 
Atlantic and GOM populations, as well as Weakfish 
( Cynoscion regalis), Spotfin Croaker (Roncador stearn- 
sii), and Yellowfin Croaker ( Umbrina roncador). 
Discussion 
In this article, we identify and address gaps in the 
understanding of the life history of the recreationally 
and commercially important Southern Kingfish in the 
northcentral GOM. We report that Southern Kingfish 
