Frazier et al.: Growth rates of Sphyrna tiburo estimated from tag-recapture data 
343 
Acknowledgments 
We thank G. Ulrich, J. Morris, C. Manire, A. Galloway, 
and the numerous interns whose countless hours of 
sampling made this study possible. We also thank 
L. Natanson, R. Francis, J. Sulikowski, C. Simpfendorfer, 
J. Ballenger, and L. Lombardi-Carlson for sharing data 
and providing guidance and input. This research was 
enabled by NOAA funding to Mote Marine Laboratory, 
the NOAA COASTSPAN and GULFSPAN surveys, the 
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Florida 
Department of Environmental Protection. This paper 
is contribution 830 of the South Carolina Marine 
Resources Center. 
Literature cited 
Aires-da-Silva, A. M., M. N. Maunder, K. M. Schaefer, and 
D. W. Fuller. 
2015. Improved growth estimates from integrated analy- 
sis of direct ageing and tag—recapture data: an illustra- 
tion with bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus) of the eastern 
Pacific Ocean with implications for management. Fish. 
Res. 163:119-126. 
Ardizzone, D., G. M. Cailliet, L. J. Natanson, A. H. Andrews, 
L. A. Kerr, and T. A. Brown. 
2006. Application of bomb radiocarbon chronologies to short- 
fin mako ([surus oxyrinchus) age validation. Environ. Biol. 
Fish. 77:355-366. 
Beamish, R. J., and G. A. McFarlane. 
1983. The forgotten requirement for age validation in fisher- 
ies biology. Trans. Am. Fish. Soc. 112:735-743. 
Bethea, D. M., L. Hale, J. K. Carlson, E. Cortés, C. A. Manire, and 
J. Gelsleichter. 
2007. Geographic and ontogenetic variation in the diet and 
daily ration of the bonnethead shark, Sphyrna tiburo, from 
the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Mar. Biol. 152:1009-1020. 
Bethea, D. M., M. J. Ajemian, J. K. Carlson, E. R. Hoffmayer, 
J. L. Imhoff, R. D. Grubbs, C. T. Peterson, and G. H. Burgess. 
2015. Distribution and community structure of coastal 
sharks in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico. Environ. Biol. 
Fish. 98:1233-1254. 
Beverton, R. J. H., and S. J. Holt. 
1957. On the dynamics of exploited fish populations. Fish. 
Invest. Ser. 2, vol. 19, 533 p. HMSO, London. 
Bishop, S. D. H., M. P. Francis, C. Duffy, and J. C. Montgomery. 
2006. Age, growth, maturity, longevity and natural mortality 
of the shortfin mako shark (Jsurus oxyrinchus) in New Zea- 
land waters. Mar. Freshw. Res. 57:143-154. 
Cailliet, G. M., and K. J. Goldman. 
2004. Age determination and validation in chondrichthyan 
fishes. In Biology of sharks and their relatives (J. C. Carrier, 
J. A. Musick, and M. R. Heithaus, eds.), p. 399-447. CRC 
Press, Boca Raton, FL. 
Cailliet, G. M., H. F. Mollet, G. G. Pittenger, D. Bedford, and 
L. J. Natanson. 
1992. Growth and demography of the Pacific angel shark 
(Squatina californica), based upon tag returns off Califor- 
nia. Mar. Freshw. Res. 43:1313-1330. 
Cailliet, G. M., W. D. Smith, H. F. Mollet, and K. J. Goldman. 
2006. Age and growth of chondrichthyan fishes: the 
need for consistency in terminology, verification, 
validation,and growth function fitting. Environ. Biol.Fish. 
77:211-228. 
Campana, S. E. 
2001. Accuracy, precision and quality control in age determi- 
nation, including a review of the use and abuse of age vali- 
dation methods. J. Fish Biol. 59:197—242. 
Campana, S. E., L. J. Natanson, and S. Myklevoll. 
2002. Bomb dating and age determination of large pelagic 
sharks. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 59:450—455. 
Carlson, J. K., and G. R. Parsons. 
1997. Age and growth of the bonnethead shark, Sphyrna 
tiburo, from northwest Florida with comments on clinal 
variation. Environ. Biol. Fish. 50:331-341. 
1999. Seasonal differences in routine oxygen consumption 
rates of the bonnethead shark. J. Fish Biol. 55:876-879. 
Carlson, J. K., and I. E. Baremore. 
2003. Changes in biological parameters of Atlantic sharpnose 
shark Rhizoprionodon terraenovae in the Gulf of Mexico: 
evidence for density-dependent growth and maturity? Mar. 
Freshw. Res. 54:227—234. 
Compagno, L. G. V. 
1984. FAO species catalogue. Vol. 4. Sharks of the world. An 
annotated and illustrated catalogue of shark species known 
to date. Part 2. Carcharhiniformes. FAO Fish. Synop. 125, 
p. 251-655. FAO, Rome. 
Davenport, S., and J. D. Stevens. 
1988. Age and growth of two commercially important sharks 
(Carcharhinus tilstoni and C. sorrah) from northern Aus- 
tralia. Aust. J. Mar. Freshw. Res. 39:417—433. 
Driggers, W., J. Carlson, B. Cullum, J. Dean, and D. Oakley. 
2004. Age and growth of the blacknose shark, Carcharhinus 
acronotus, in the western North Atlantic Ocean with com- 
ments on regional variation in growth rates. Environ. Biol. 
Fish. 71:171. 
Driggers, W. B., III, B. S. Frazier, D. H. Adams, G. F. Ulrich, 
C. M. Jones, E. R. Hoffmayer, and M. D. Campbell. 
2014. Site fidelity of migratory bonnethead sharks Sphyrna 
tiburo (L. 1758) to specific estuaries in South Carolina, 
USA. J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 459:61-69. 
Drymon, J. M., W. B. Driggers III, D. Oakley, and G. F. Ulrich. 
2006. Investigating life history differences between fine- 
tooth sharks, Carcharhinus isodon, in the northern Gulf of 
Mexico and the western North Atlantic Ocean. Gulf Mex. 
Sci. 24:2-10. 
Dureuil, M., and B. Worm. 
2015. Estimating growth from tagging data: an application to 
north-east Atlantic tope shark Galeorhinus galeus. J. Fish 
Biol. 87:1389-1410. 
Erzini, K. 
1994. An empirical study of variability in length-at-age of 
marine fishes. J. Appl. Ichthyol. 10:17—41. 
Escatel-Luna, E., D. H. Adams, M. Uribe-Alcocer, V. Islas-Villanueva, 
and P. Diaz-Jaimes. 
2015. Population genetic structure of the bonnethead shark, 
Sphyrna tiburo, from the western North Atlantic Ocean 
based on mtDNA sequences. J. Hered. 106:355-365. 
Eveson, J. P., T. Polacheck, and G. M. Laslett. 
2007. Consequences of assuming an incorrect error structure 
in von Bertalanffy growth models: a simulation study. Can. 
J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 64:602-617. 
Fabens, A. J. 
1965. Properties and fitting of the von Bertalanffy growth 
curve. Growth 29:265—289. 
Francis, M. P., and R. I. C. C. Francis. 
1992. Growth rate estimates of New Zealand rig (Mustelus len- 
ticulatus). Aust. J. Mar. Freshw. Res. 43:1157-1176. 
