Brown-Peterson et al.: Meta-analysis of reproductive parameters of Lutjanus campechanus in the Gulf of Mexico 
39 
Table 1 
Data sources and parameters used for analysis of female red snapper reproduction in the 
northern Gulf of Mexico (GOM); E=northeastern GOM; W=northwestern GOM; R=raw data; 
S=summary data. 
Year 
Region 
Reproductive parameter 
Relative 
Spawning batch 
GSI interval fecundity 
Reference 
1991-1992 
E 
R 
R 
R 
SEDAR 7, 2005 
1993-1995 
E, W 
R 
R 
R 
SEDAR 7, 2005 
1998-2002 
E, W 
R 
R 
R 
SEDAR 7, 2005 
1999-2001 
E, W 
R 
R 
R 
Kulaw et al., 2017 
1999 
E 
R 
Szedlmayer and Furman, 2000° 
2004 
E 
R 
Brown-Peterson et al., 2009 
2007-2010 
R 
SEDAR 31, 2013 
2009 
E 
S 
Lowerre-Barbieri et al., 2012 
2009-2010 
W 
S 
R 
Cowan et al., 2012 
2009-2010 
E, W 
R 
R 
R 
Kulaw et al., 2017 
2011 
E, W 
R 
R 
R 
Fitzhugh et al., 2012a 
2012 
E, W 
R 
Lang and Falterman, 2017 
2012-2013 
W 
R 
R 
R 
Glenn et al., 2017 
2012-2016 
E, W 
R 
R 
R 
SEDAR 52, 2018 
2013-2014 
W 
S 
S 
Alexander, 2015 
2013-2015 
w 
S 
S 
R 
Downey et al., 2018 
2016-2017 
E 
R 
R 
R 
Brown-Peterson, current study 
“ Szedlmayer, S. T., and C. Furman. 2000. Estimation of abundance, mortality, fecundity, age 
frequency, and growth rates of red snapper Lutjanus campechanus, from a fishery-independent 
stratified random survey. Report to the Gulf and South Atlantic Fisheries Foundation, Inc. Na¬ 
tional Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce Cooperative 
agreement NA87FM0221. 
data, and therefore no papers published before 1991 
were included in the analyses. Although Render (1995) 
contains information on spawning seasonality and 
spawning interval, insufficient details were provided 
to be able to use the data in our analyses. 
When possible and necessary, we contacted the 
authors of articles to receive their original data. In 
all other cases, the data provided within the articles 
themselves were used in the meta-analysis. Addition¬ 
ally, data from an ongoing, unpublished study by the 
first author were included in the analyses. All data 
sources used for analyses are shown in Table 1 and in¬ 
clude peer-reviewed, published manuscripts, graduate 
theses, and final or interim reports. 
Data collection—2016 and 2017 samples 
Red snapper were collected monthly in Mississippi 
waters from April through November 2016 and from 
April through October 2017 during daylight hours by 
using vertical longlines baited with Atlantic mackerel 
(Scomber scomber). Sampling gear consisted of 3 elec¬ 
tric reels rigged with an 8-m vertical mainline that was 
outfitted with ten 45.7-cm leaders spaced 0.67-m apart 
and a 4.5-kg weight at the terminal end. All leaders on 
each line were rigged with one hook size (8/0, 11/0 or 
15/0 circle hooks of 0 offset). Lines were fished just off 
the bottom for 5 min/set. Habitats sampled included 
permitted fishing zones around artificial reefs, oil and 
gas platforms, and rigs-to-reef sites at 3 depth zones (< 
20 m, 20-49 m, 50-100 m). Sites at reefs were fished 
at the 2 shallowest depth zones, whereas rigs-to-reef 
sites were fished only at the deepest depth zone. Three 
5-min sets were made at platforms and at reef zones 
where fishing was permitted at each depth zone, and 
two 5-min sets were made at rigs-to-reefs sites. All fish 
were stored on ice immediately upon capture. 
Fish were measured (FL, mm) and weighed (0.01 
kg). Gonadal tissue was removed, weighed (0.1 g) 
and macroscopically assessed to determine reproduc¬ 
tive phase (Brown-Peterson et al., 2011). A section of 
ovary from each fish was preserved in 10% neutral 
buffered formalin within 15 hours of capture for histo¬ 
logical analysis and assignment of reproductive phase 
(Brown-Peterson et al., 2011). A portion (1-4 g) of the 
ovary of all females macroscopically identified in the 
actively spawning subphase was weighed (0.01 g) and 
preserved for a minimum of 3 months in Gilson’s solu- 
