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Material Information
- Title:
- Assessing the Population Structure and Characterizing Spatio-temporal Distributions of a Red Hind. Epinephelus guttatus. Spawning Aggregation in St. Croix. U.S. Virgin Islands
- Creator:
- Brown, Jonathan E.
- Place of Publication:
- St. Thomas, Virgin Islands
- Publisher:
- University of the Virgin Islands
- Publication Date:
- 2017
- Language:
- english
- Physical Description:
- 1 online resource (71 pages)
Notes
- Abstract:
- Red hind, Epinephelus guttatus, form seasonal fish spawning aggregations (FSA) within the Lang Bank Red Hind Spawning Aggregation Area (LBFSA) located in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. To assess the population structure and spatio-temporal distributions of red hind in the LBFSA, data were collected over two consecutive spawning seasons, 2014 and 2015, and compared to baseline data collected at the LBFSA in 2004 and 2005.Differences among length, sex ratio, and density were tested to examine changes in population structure between spawning seasons after ten and twenty years of seasonal protection. Generally, results showed signs of a recovering spawning population with a significant increase in total length (cm) (p<0.05) between spawning seasons (2004 and 2014) and a return from a leptokurtic distribution in 2004 to a bimodal female-to-male size distribution in 2014. Female to male sex ratios also showed improvement from 1:1 to 4:1,representing an appropriate sex ratio for this haremic spawning species. Conversely, mean density decreased by 55% from 2005 to 2014. Spatio-temporal distributions and directions of movement of E. guttatus were characterized between 2014 and 2015 spawning seasons to test the hypothesis that fish regularly cross the nearest western marine protected area (MPA) boundary during the 3-month seasonal closure period. Few detections were recorded along the nea.rest western boundary but instead sequential detections recorded along the northwestern MPA boundary suggest the presence of a migratory corridor, which was not previously documented for this MPA. Fish exhibited high site fidelity within the MPA during the primary spawning months, with detections reflecting established peak reproductive periods for this species in the U.S.Virgin Islands. However, numerous detections were also recorded two months after the closure period (December 1to February 29) suggesting temporal variability among red hind that aggregate to spawn within the LBFSA. These results suggest the need to re-examine the duration of the red
hind closure.
Record Information
- Source Institution:
- University of the Virgin Islands
- Holding Location:
- University of the Virgin Islands
- Rights Management:
- Copyright Jonathan E. Brown. Permission granted to the University of the Virgin Islands to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder.
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