314 
Fishery Bulletin 117(4) 
Table 2 
Summary statistics for the total lengths and ages of snowy grouper (Hyporthodus 
niveatus) collected off North and South Carolina during 3 periods: 1982-1985, 1993- 
1994, and 2008-2012. Ages are counts of annual increments (one opaque and one 
translucent zone) from otolith readings. Data were combined for 3 gear types: Kali 
pole, long bottom longline, and short bottom longline. n=number of fish examined; 
SE=standard error of the mean. 
Period 
Total length (mm) 
Age 
n 
Median 
Mean 
SE 
n 
Median 
Mean 
SE 
1980s 
219 
720 
714 
11 
169 
10 
11.8 
0.4 
1990s 
1332 
572 
584 
4 
1215 
5 
5.5 
0.1 
2000s 
1479 
634 
632 
4 
1383 
7 
6.8 
0.1 
All periods 
3030 
614 
617 
3 
2767 
6 
6.6 
0.1 
Table 3 
Mean sizes at age of snowy grouper (Hyporthodus niveatus) collected off North and South Carolina 
during 3 periods: 1982-1985, 1993-1994, and 2008-2012, by age and period. Data were combined for 
3 gear types: Kali pole, long bottom longline (LBLL), and short bottom longline (SBLL). Also included 
are results of analysis of variance conducted for mean total length at age between the 1990s and 2000s 
by using data for LBLL and SBLL gear. Ages are counts of annual increments from otolith readings. 
SE=standard error of the mean; n=number of fish examined. 
LBLL, SBLL and Kali pole LBLL and SBLL 
1982-1985 1993-1994 2008-2012 1990s vs. 2000s 
Age 
Mean 
SE 
n 
Mean 
SE 
n 
Mean 
SE 
n 
P-value 
n 
2 
418 
_ 
i 
381 
8.9 
46 
361 
19.9 
16 
0.296 
62 
3 
423 
96.0 
2 
427 
6.2 
111 
396 
9.7 
61 
0.004 
172 
4 
393 
127.5 
2 
492 
4.5 
250 
500 
13.7 
78 
0.520 
328 
5 
515 
36.5 
8 
564 
4.5 
286 
582 
7.5 
163 
0.025 
449 
6 
523 
39.4 
11 
627 
5.0 
241 
612 
4.4 
364 
0.029 
605 
7 
604 
23.4 
19 
673 
6.6 
126 
648 
5.6 
262 
0.006 
388 
8 
640 
26.7 
19 
739 
12.2 
42 
689 
6.9 
201 
0.002 
243 
9 
644 
28.2 
7 
818 
19.2 
27 
725 
11.5 
87 
<0.001 
114 
10 
729 
17.1 
18 
909 
14.5 
19 
770 
10.1 
85 
<0.001 
104 
11 
678 
27.3 
9 
905 
30.3 
13 
821 
20.1 
27 
0.024 
40 
12 
760 
31.3 
11 
932 
23.5 
14 
823 
23.8 
23 
0.004 
37 
the 1980s and 1990s to 13.9 years (logit link: n- 1282, 
95% Cl 9.6-20.8 years) in the 2000s, but differences were 
not significant (/ 2 test: P= 0.92). The proportion of males 
(including transitional specimens) in all samples was 
0.12. A temporal analysis, restricted to 3 gear types (long 
bottom longline, short bottom longline, and Kali pole), of 
sex composition revealed that few males were present at 
lengths <800 mm TL in samples across 3 decades, with the 
proportions of males at that size ranging from 0.00 to 0.06 
(Table 5). In samples from the 2000s, an increasing trend in 
the proportions of males at larger sizes was observed, with 
values ranging from 0.32 at lengths of 801-900 mm TL to 
0.86 at lengths of 1001-1100 mm TL. These values were 
similar to, although slightly lower than, those for samples 
from the 1980s. 
Spawning 
Spawning season was determined by comparing dates of 
capture to the presence of spawning indicators. Samples 
collected during 2008-2012 revealed a similar spawning 
season (April through September) to that reported by 
Wyanski et al. (2000). Five specimens with evidence of 
imminent (oocyte maturation) or recent spawning (pos¬ 
tovulatory complexes) were collected in October 2008 
and in January and March 2009, indicating that the 
