Growth and Mortality of Fish Larvae in the Northcentral Gulf of Mexico and Implications to Recruitment

Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1997 Growth and Mortality of Fish Larvae in the Northcentral Gulf of Mexico and Implications to Recruitment. Bruce Henry Comyns Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Comyns, Bruce Henry, "Growth and Mortality of Fish Larvae in the Northcentral Gulf of Mexico and Implications to Recruitment." (1997). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 6474. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/6474 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 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GROWTH AND MORTALITY OF FISH LARVAE IN THE NORTHCENTRAL GULF OF MEXICO AND IMPLICATIONS TO RECRUITMENT A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor o f Philosophy in The Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences by Bruce Henry Comyns B.S., University of Maine at Orono, 1977 M.A., Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William and Mary, 1987 August 1997 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 9808731 UMI Microform 9808731 Copyright 1997, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am deeply indebted to the chairman of my committee, Dr. Richard F. Shaw, and to the following committee members: Dr. Joanne Lyczkowski-Shultz, Dr. Charles A. Wilson, Dr. William J. Wiseman, Jr., Dr. John W. Fleeger, and Dr. John R. Battista. Rick Shaw is due special thanks for his help in “moulding” this dissertation and his extensive editorial comments that vastly improved the quality of this work. When I first enrolled in the Oceanography program at LSU (1990) I maintained my research associate position at the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory (GCRL) thanks to the understanding of Joanne who was my supervisor at the time. My academic milestones were reached slowly because of my full-time commitment to lead the Ichthyoplankton program at GCRL after Joanne’s departure in 1992, and I thank personnel at GCRL for allowing me the freedom to pursue my Ph.D. The extensive plankton collections used for my dissertation would not have been taken if it were not for the support of the NOAA/NMFS MARFIN program (Marine Fisheries Initiative) and SEAMAP program (Southeast Area Monitoring and Assessment Program). Mr. Richard Waller, GCRL’s SEAMAP administrator, is due special thanks for providing shiptime to continue the larval red drum assessment efforts upon which my field research was “piggybacked”. The highly capable crewe of the R.V. Tommy Munro, GCRL's research vessel, must be commended for their patience, skills and assistance. Sorting of these plankton samples was made possible by funding provided by the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service through the Wallop Breaux program. This program is ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. administered in Mississippi by the Department of Marine Resources (DMR), whose personnel must be thanked for providing the support. Sorting the plankton samples was a monumental task, and was made possible by the efforts of several people, including Mae Blake, Cindy Gavins, Pam Scott, Dianne Scott, Ngoc Bui, and Jean Bennett. Mae Blake is due special thanks because she has been the backbone of the sorting lab for the past decade. Pam Scott is also due special thanks for accomplishing many tasks, including generating many of the larval distribution maps, doing much of the “number crunching", and mounting otoliths. I thank Chet Rakocinski and Jeff Lotz, colleagues of mine at GCRL, for help that they provided with graphics and statistical analyses. Personnel from the National Marine Fisheries Service, Pascagoula Laboratory in Mississippi must also be thanked for providing spectrophotometric analyses to measure hundreds of chlorophyll a samples. I express my sincere gratitude to the late Dr. John M. Zeigler who was responsible for my initial acceptance into the field of Marine Science, and to my parents Alan and Daphne Comyns who always encouraged me to pursue my childhood dream of being a “marine biologist”. Finally, and saving the most important until last, I thank my wife Becky who has always provided support during my long and at times trying graduate career - which is now over - yea! iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS............................................................................... ii LIST OF TABLES......................................................................................... vii LIST OF FIGURES....................................................................................... ix ABSTRACT.............................................................................................. xvi INTRODUCTION........................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1. Variability in the distribution and abundance of larval red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus), Atlantic bumper ( Chloroscombrus chrysurus), and vermilion snapper (Rhomboplites aumrubens), during September in the northcentral Gulf of Mexico ..................................................... 6 INTRODUCTION....................................................................................... 6 METHODS AND MATERIALS.................................................................. 8 RESULTS.................................................................................................. 9 DISCUSSION........................................................................................... 31 Chapter 2. Variability associated with age and growth estimates of larval vermilion snapper (i Rhomboplites aumrubens) and Atlantic bumper (Chloroscombrus chrysurus) in the northcentral Gulf of Mexico .............................................. 39 INTRODUCTION...................................................................................... 39 METHODS AND MATERIALS.................................................................. 41 RESULTS................................................................................................. 49 DISCUSSION........................................................................................... 87 Chapter 3. Estimating mortality and subsequent cumulative survival offish larvae in the sub-tropical climate of the northcentral Gulf of Mexico ................................................. 102 INTRODUCTION...................................................................................... 102 METHODS AND MATERIALS.............................................................. 105 RESULTS................................................................................................. 110 DISCUSSION........................................................................................... 127 CONCLUSIONS........................................................................................... 137 BIBLIOGRAPHY........................................................................................... 142 iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright

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