90 
Fishery Bulletin 1 12(1) 
Table 1 
Comparison of the fit of the top 14 models of activity for Black Sea Bass ( Centropristis striata ) 
at a reef in the mid-Atlantic Bight during the period May-November 2003, with the follow- 
ing 10 predictors included in all models: sex; season; release group (rg); time period (dawn, 
day, dusk, and night); linear ( t ), quadratic ( t 2 ) and cubic (i 3 ) time; mean difference in tem- 
perature at stations B1 and H7 (see Fig. 1), 2 of the stations where acoustic receivers were 
deployed; mean difference in salinity at stations B1 and H7; and mean temperature at station 
B1 (temp). The response was coded 0 (no movement) or 1 (movement) during a given 3-h time 
period; the subject of each repeated-measures model was individual fish nested in time period. 
The quasi-likelihood information criterion (QIC) is a modification of Akaike’s information cri- 
terion appropriate for repeated-measures models of binomial responses. 
10 Predictors + 
QIC 
AQIC 
sex*rg + sexH 3 + rgH 3 + temp'H + sexHgH 3 
32247.316 
0.0 
sex*rg + sexH 2 + rgH 2 + temp'H 2 + sex* rgH 2 
32265.321 
18.005 
sex*rg + sex*t 3 + rg*t 3 + temp*t? + sexHgH 3 
32267.646 
20.330 
sex*rg + rg*t 3 + tempH + temp*t 2 
32277.678 
30.362 
sex*rg + sexH 3 + rgH 3 + tempH 2 + sexHgH 3 
32278.182 
30.866 
sexHg + sexH 2 + rgH 2 + tempH + sexHgH 2 
32279.667 
32.351 
sexHg + sexH 2 + rg*t 2 + tempH 3 + sex*rg*t 2 
32284.446 
37.130 
sexHg + rgH 3 + tempH 
32284.549 
37.233 
sexHg + rgH 2 + rgHemp + tempH + tempH 2 + rg*temp*t 2 
32285.540 
38.224 
sexHg + rgH 3 + tempH + tempH 2 + tempH 3 
32287.220 
39.904 
sexHg + rgH 2 + tempH 2 
32289.342 
42.026 
sexHg + rgH 2 + rgH 3 + tempH + tempH 2 
32293.091 
45.775 
sexHg + rgH 3 + tempH + tempH 3 
32294.340 
47.024 
sexHg +rgH 2 + tempH 
32298.118 
50.802 
pending on reef size. We hypothesize that the size 
and spatial distribution of temperate reefs and 
other hardbottom structures along the Atlantic 
coast and in the Gulf of Mexico may contribute 
to observed variation in home-range size within 
this species. 
Home-range sizes reported for other fishes 
tend to be relatively small (<1 ha), possibly re- 
flecting the limited spatial and temporal scales 
over which these types of studies are typically 
conducted (e.g.. Topping et ah, 2005; March et ah, 
2010; Mason and Lowe, 2010). Additionally, fishes 
that exhibit a high affinity to a particular habi- 
tat (e.g., coral reefs) often have relatively small 
home ranges. Black Sea Bass home ranges were 
markedly larger than the ones reported for other 
structure-oriented fishes (e.g., Parrotfish [ Spari - 
soma cretense ]: 0.0037 ha, Afonso et ah, 2008; 
Schoolmaster [Lutjanus apodus 3: 4.7 ha, Gray 
Snapper [L. griseus ]: 14.6 ha, Hammerschlag- 
Peyer and Layman, 2010). Subadult Prickly 
Shark ( Echinorhinus cookei) in Monterey Canyon 
maintained home ranges similar in size to Black 
Sea Bass (20-146 ha; Dawson and Starr, 2009), 
as did several species of coral reef fishes in the 
Dry Tortugas National Park (144-417 ha; Farmer 
and Ault, 2011). These observations and those of 
Figure 4 
Relationship between log e -transformed home-range size (ha) 
and release date for 31 male Black Sea Bass ( Centropristis 
striata) at a reef in the mid-Atlantic Bight during summer- 
fall 2003. The dashed line is a linear regression line provided 
for reference only. 
