Friess and Sedberry: Age, growth, and spawning season for Beryx decadactylus 
21 
east of Charleston, South Carolina. The Charleston 
Bump is characterized by carbonate outcrops, scarps, 
scour depressions, and overhangs that are essential 
hard-bottom habitat for demersal fishes (Sedberry et ah, 
2001). In most global fisheries, splendid alfonsino is the 
most abundant Beryx species in the catch, but in the 
U.S. wreckfish fishery, red bream composes more than 
95% of the alfonsino landings (senior author, personal 
observ.). Alfonsino landings in the United States are 
currently not monitored. 
Life history data for red bream are sparse because 
research on alfonsinos has focused almost exclusively 
on the economically more important splendid alfonsino. 
A few studies have addressed both species, and it was 
concluded that distribution, feeding habits, reproductive 
parameters, age and growth, and larval development 
are similar (Busakhin, 1982; Mundy, 1990; Isidro, 1996; 
Durr and Gonzalez, 2002). Alfonsinos are gonochoristic 
batch spawners (Isidro, 1996), their eggs and larvae are 
epipelagic, and juveniles are pelagic for several months 
(Mundy, 1990) before moving into deeper waters and 
assuming the adult benthopelagic lifestyle (Busakhin, 
1982; Lehodey et al., 1994). In the eastern North Atlan- 
tic, female red bream reach sexual maturity at 276 mm 
fork length. The maximum age estimate for the Azores 
red bream population is 15 years, although ages for this 
species have never been validated (Isidro, 1996). 
Basic biological information has not been published 
for the western North Atlantic red bream population. 
Many other deep-sea fishes have life history patterns 
characterized by slow growth, high longevity, and late 
maturity, all of which results in low productivity, high 
susceptibility to overfishing, and low resiliency (Merrett 
and Haedrich, 1997; Koslow et al., 2000; Cheung et al., 
2007). Knowledge of red bream life history traits is es- 
sential for establishing the biological reference points 
needed for management and, in the absence of tradi- 
tional stock assessments, for conducting risk assess- 
ments to evaluate vulnerability and prevent overfishing 
(Patrick et al., 2010). 
The purpose of this study was to investigate the age, 
growth, and reproductive biology of red bream caught 
off the southeastern United States. We hypothesized 
that red bream attain a much higher maximum age 
than previously assumed, more similar to other deep- 
water fishes that occur on the Charleston Bump, such 
as barrelfish ( Hyperoglyphe perciformis) and blackbelly 
rosefish (Helicolenus dactylopterus ), which have estimat- 
ed longevities of 85 and 30 years, respectively (White 
et al., 1998; Filer and Sedberry, 2008). Another goal of 
the study was to validate high red bream age estimates 
obtained through the interpretation of thin-sectioned 
otoliths. We used bomb radiocarbon dating, a method 
that has previously been successfully applied to validate 
ages for other long-lived fishes (Kalish et al., 1997; Kerr 
et al., 2005; Piner et al., 2005). We used age estimates 
to determine growth parameters and estimate natural 
mortality rate. The life history parameters present- 
ed here provide critical inputs for stock assessments, 
risk analyses, and for determining biological reference 
points. This information is needed if red bream become 
a target for the fishery and need to be included in a 
fishery management plan in the future. 
Materials and methods 
Collection of samples 
Red bream landed by the commercial wreckfish fish- 
ery operating on the Charleston Bump (approximately 
31°30'N, 79°W) were sampled from April 2003 to Janu- 
ary 2008. All specimens were caught by vertical line 
fishing in depths of 450-600 m (Sedberry et al., 1999) 
and iced on the vessel until arrival at port. Every red 
bream caught on a fishing trip was sampled during a port 
sampling trip. For each specimen, total length (TL), fork 
length (FL), and standard length (SL) were measured 
to the nearest millimeter, and total body weight (TBW) 
was recorded in grams. Sagittal otoliths were extracted 
and stored dry in envelopes for age and growth analysis, 
and the entire gonad was removed and placed in 10% 
buffered formalin for histological analysis. In addition, 
otoliths and fork lengths from 22 small (FL<400 mm) 
specimens collected from the Azores were provided by 
Gui Menezes of the Departamento de Oceanografia e 
Pescas (DOP), University of the Azores. These otoliths 
were examined to aid with aging technique development 
because initial counts of age increments for Charleston 
Bump otoliths were much higher than ages previously 
reported for eastern North Atlantic red bream. 
Age and growth 
Sagittal otoliths were weighed to the nearest milligram, 
and either the right or left otolith (depending on the 
condition of the otolith) was embedded in epoxy resin. A 
Buehler Isomet low-speed saw (Buehler Ltd., Lake Bluff, 
IL) with a diamond wheel was used to cut transverse 
sections of approximately 0.6— 0.7 mm thickness through 
the focus. Sections were mounted on glass slides with 
Cytoseal mounting medium and viewed under a Nikon 
SMZ-U dissecting scope (Nikon Instruments Inc., Mel- 
ville, NY) with transmitted and reflected light. 
Exploratory readings were conducted along ventral 
and dorsal axes toward the proximal edge of the oto- 
lith. Increments were counted independently by two 
readers, without knowledge of fish length or sex, and 
both readers rated the readability of otoliths. After the 
exploratory readings, the first reader made two counts 
(readings) over the period of several weeks to assess 
within-reader precision, and the second reader made 
one count. When ages were compared between readings 
and readers, both readers decided to jointly recount all 
otoliths because of the large variation in assigned ages 
for some otoliths between the two readers. During the 
joint count, both readers agreed that there had been 
an error in the second reader’s interpretation of the 
first growth bands and, therefore, the joint count was 
substituted for the second reader’s count in all subse- 
