Koob et al.: Age validation of the northern stock of Centropristis striata in the Atlantic Ocean 265 
Table 2 
Number of samples of black sea bass (Centropristis striata), by month of capture and age estimate, from which sagittal 
otoliths were removed and used for marginal increment analysis. Ages in this table represent the final age assignments 
used in this study. Age bin 1 (AB1), age bin 2 (AB2), and age bin 3 (AB3) are provided to indicate which ages are included 
in each bin. Samples were collected in the Atlantic Ocean off the northeastern United States during 2013-2017. Blank 
cells indicate no otolith samples were available for that age bin and month combination. 
Month 
Age 
(years) Jan Feb Mar Apr Jul Aug 
1 15 21 
24 29 23 
OoOMmANDUN me CO Ne 
ao 
i) 
ig) 
Oo 
Age bin 1 
Frequency 
pe) 
Oo 
Total length (mm) 
Figure 2 
Length-frequency histograms for each age bin of black sea bass (Centropristis striata) from 
which sagittal otoliths were removed and used in marginal increment analysis. Samples were 
captured in the Atlantic Ocean off the northeastern United States between 2013 and 2017. 
Age bin 1 includes ages 1—2, age bin 2 comprises ages 3-4, and age bin 3 includes ages 5+. 
code included in the supplemental material (SIII) of collected in summer were compared by using Welch’s 
Okamura et al. (2013). 2-sample t-test for first annulus validation. For age-1 fish 
Measurements of otoliths from samples of age-0 black sampled in summer, measurements were also compared 
sea bass collected in the fall and age-1 black sea bass with the first annulus measurements of all samples used 
