161 
Changes in size and age at maturity of the 
northern stock of Tilefish ( Lopholatilus 
chamaeleonticeps) after a period of overfishing 
Email address for contact author: richard.mcbride@noaa gov 
Abstract— The modern fishery for 
Tilefish (Lopholatilus chamaeleon- 
ticeps) developed during the 1970s, 
offshore of southern New England, 
in the western North Atlantic Ocean. 
The population quickly became over 
exploited, with documented declines 
in catch rates and changes in demo- 
graphic traits. In an earlier study, 
median size at maturity (L 50 ) of 
males declined from 62.6 to 38.6 cm 
fork length (FL) and median age 
at maturity (A 50 ) of males declined 
from 7.1 to 4.6 years between 1978 
and 1982. As part of a cooperative 
research effort to improve the da- 
ta-limited Tilefish assessment, we 
updated maturity parameter esti- 
mates through the use of an otolith 
aging method and macroscopic and 
microscopic evaluations of gonads. 
The vital rates for this species have 
continued to change, particularly 
for males. By 2008, male L 50 and 
A 50 had largely rebounded, to 54.1 
cm FL and 5.9 years. Changes in 
female reproductive schedules were 
less variable among years, but the 
smallest L 50 and youngest A 50 were 
recorded in 2008. Tilefish are di- 
morphic, where the largest fish are 
male, and male spawning success is 
postulated to be socially mediated. 
These traits may explain the initial 
rapid decline and the subsequent re- 
bound in male L 50 and A 50 and less 
dramatic effects on females. Other 
factors that likely contribute to the 
dynamics of maturity parameter es- 
timates are the relatively short pe- 
riod of overfishing and the amount 
of time since efforts to rebuild this 
fishery began, as measured in num- 
bers of generations. This study also 
confirms the gonochoristic sexual 
pattern of the northern stock, and 
it reveals evidence of age trunca- 
tion and relatively high proportions 
of immature Tilefish in the recent 
catch. 
Manuscript submitted 11 July 2012. 
Manuscript accepted 21 February 2013. 
Fish. Bull. 111:161-174 (2013). 
doi 10.7755/FB.111.2.4 
The views and opinions expressed 
or implied in this article are those of the 
author (or authors) and do not necessar- 
ily reflect the position of the National 
Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA. 
Richard S. McBride (contact author ) 1 
Tiffany E. Vidal 1 2 
Steven X. Cadrin 2 
1 Northeast Fisheries Science Center 
National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA 
166 Water Street 
Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543 
2 University of Massachusetts Dartmouth 
School for Marine Science & Technology 
200 Mill Road, Suite 325 
Fairhaven, Massachusetts 02719 
As the largest malacanthid, growing 
to more than 1 m and 25 kg, the Tile- 
fish ( Lopholatilus chamaeleonticeps ) 
is a valuable fishery species, often 
marketed as “golden tilefish.” The 
Tilefish ranges from New England 
to the Gulf of Mexico and into the 
Caribbean Sea (Freeman and Turn- 
er 1 ; Dooley, 1978), where 2 stocks 
have been identified, north or south 
of the Virginia and North Carolina 
border (Kitts et al., 2007). North- 
ern Tilefish are morphologically and 
genetically distinct from southern 
Tilefish (Katz et al., 1983). Although 
individuals can range as far north 
as Nova Scotia, Tilefish are gener- 
ally in low abundance in the Gulf of 
Maine (Able, 2002). Fishing on the 
northern stock is concentrated from 
Veatch Canyon, on the southern 
flank of Georges Bank off Massa- 
chusetts, to the Hudson Canyon off 
the coast of New Jersey (Grimes et 
al., 1980; Grimes and Turner, 1999; 
Kitts et ah, 2007). Recent (2007-11) 
Tilefish landings north of the Caroli- 
1 Freeman, B. L., and S. C. Turner. 1977. 
Biological and fisheries data on tilefish, 
Lopholatilus chamaeleonticeps Goode 
and Bean. NOAA Fisheries, Sandy Hook 
Lab. Tech. Ser. Rep. no. 5, 41 p. [Avail- 
able from http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/ 
publications/series/shtsr/shlts r5.pdf, ac- 
cessed October 2012. 
nas were valued at $4. 2-5. 6 million 
annually. 2 
Unlike some historic fisheries of 
New England (e.g., Atlantic Cod [Ga- 
el us morhua ], American Shad [Alosa 
sapidissima]-, Lear, 1998), the Tile- 
fish fishery developed only recently, 
and it had a most inauspicious start. 
The Tilefish was described in 1879 
from fishery catches off New Eng- 
land (Goode and Bean, 1879). Oc- 
casional catches followed, but, in 
1882, Tilefish became widely known 
because they constituted the largest 
single kill of vertebrates ever record- 
ed. Tilefish are stenothermal, occur- 
ring along a narrow band of warm 
water, 9-14°C, at the continental 
shelf-slope break (Able et al., 1982; 
Grimes et al., 1986; Grimes and 
Turner, 1999); Marsh et al. (1999) as- 
sembled the evidence that this mass 
mortality was caused by intrusion 
of the Labrador Current into these 
outer shelf habitats. After a decade 
of no reported landings and specu- 
lation that this species had become 
extirpated in northern waters, land- 
ings resumed in the 1890s. Specific 
2 NOAA Fisheries, Annual Commer- 
cial Landings Statistics. http://www. 
s t. nmfs.noaa.gov/st 1/com mercia 1/1 and - 
ings/annual_landings.html, accessed De- 
cember 2012. 
