Volume 52
Age Validation of Red Snapper, Lutjanus campechanus, and Red Drum, Sciaenops ocellatus, from the Northern Gulf of Mexico Using 210Po/226Ra Disequilibria in Otoliths
Authors
Baker Jr., M.S.; Wilson, C.A.; Van Gent, D.L. Download PDF Open PDF in BrowserOther Information
Date: November, 1999
Pages: 63-73
Event: Proceedings of the Fifty Second Annual Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute
City: Key West, Florida
Country: USA
Abstract
Radiometric analysis of naturally occurring 226Ra and its daughters within otoliths was used to validate age estimates derived from sectioned otoliths of red snapper and red drum from the northern Gulf of Mexico. Ages of most fish species are often estimated by counting presumed annual growth zones in otoliths. Radiometric age validation provides an independent alternative to conventional methodology by removing reader interpretation variability from the age estimation process. Red snapper and red drum are two moderately long-lived species inhabiting the Gulf of Mexico which are currently under intense state and federal management. Despite the poor counting statistics and the high backgrounds incurred with the technique used in this study, radiometric age estimates closely approximated otolith section ages for both red snapper and red drum, thus validating the continued use of otolith sections as the most accurate way to estimate ages for these species.