Journal
JOURNAL OF FISH BIOLOGY
Volume 82, Issue 4, Pages 1333-1350Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1111/jfb.12076
Keywords
age; Epinephelidae; growth; management; Pohnpei; Micronesia; sexual pattern
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Funding
- NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Grants [NA05NMF4631049, NA04NMF4630341]
- U.S. Department of the Interior Office of Insular Affairs
- David and Lucile Packard Foundation
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Pacific Islands Coastal Programme
- Sea Grant College Programme
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The squaretail coralgrouper Plectropomus areolatus was identified as a fast-growing, early maturing and relatively short-lived aggregation-spawning epinephelid. Examinations of sectioned otoliths found females and males first maturing at 2 and 3years, respectively, suggesting protogynous hermaphroditism; however, no transitionals were observed in samples. Age distribution for the two sexes was similar and both were represented in the oldest age class; however, significant sex-specific differences in size-at-age were identified. Both sexes fully recruit into the fishery at age 4years and reach 90% of asymptotic length by age 3years. Underwater visual assessments, combined with the gonado-somatic indices, revealed a 5month reproductive season, with interannual variability observed in the month of highest density within the spawning aggregation. Catch restrictions on adults during spawning times and at reproductive sites, combined with gear-based management and enhanced enforcement, are recommended to maintain spawning stocks. Based on the available evidence, the sexual pattern for this species is unresolved. (C) 2013 The Authors Journal of Fish Biology (C) 2013 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles
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