Gulf and Caribbean Research Volume 29 Issue 1 2018 Preliminary Age Estimates for Female Southern Stingrays (Hypanus americanus) from Southwestern Florida, USA Abigail H.P. Hayne University of New England, [email protected] Gregg R. Poulakis Charlotte Harbor Field Laboratory, [email protected] Jason C. Seitz ANAMAR Environmental Consulting, Inc., [email protected] James A. Sulikowski University of New England, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://aquila.usm.edu/gcr Part of the Marine Biology Commons Recommended Citation Hayne, A. H., G. R. Poulakis, J. C. Seitz and J. A. Sulikowski. 2018. Preliminary Age Estimates for Female Southern Stingrays (Hypanus americanus) from Southwestern Florida, USA. Gulf and Caribbean Research 29 (1): SC1-SC4. Retrieved from https://aquila.usm.edu/gcr/vol29/iss1/3 DOI: https://doi.org/10.18785/gcr.2901.03 This Short Communication is brought to you for free and open access by The Aquila Digital Community. It has been accepted for inclusion in Gulf and Caribbean Research by an authorized editor of The Aquila Digital Community. For more information, please contact [email protected]. VOLUME 25 VOLUME GULF AND CARIBBEAN Volume 25 RESEARCH March 2013 TABLE OF CONTENTS GULF AND CARIBBEAN SAND BOTTOM MICROALGAL PRODUCTION AND BENTHIC NUTRIENT FLUXES ON THE NORTHEASTERN GULF OF MEXICO NEARSHORE SHELF RESEARCH Jeffrey G. Allison, M. E. Wagner, M. McAllister, A. K. J. Ren, and R. A. Snyder....................................................................................1—8 WHAT IS KNOWN ABOUT SPECIES RICHNESS AND DISTRIBUTION ON THE OUTER—SHELF SOUTH TEXAS BANKS? Harriet L. Nash, Sharon J. Furiness, and John W. Tunnell, Jr. ......................................................................................................... 9—18 Volume 29 ASSESSMENT OF SEAGRASS FLORAL COMMUNITY STRUCTURE FROM TWO CARIBBEAN MARINE PROTECTED 2018 AREAS ISSN: 2572-1410 Paul A. X. Bologna and Anthony J. Suleski ............................................................................................................................................. 19—27 SPATIAL AND SIZE DISTRIBUTION OF RED DRUM CAUGHT AND RELEASED IN TAMPA BAY, FLORIDA, AND FAC- TORS ASSOCIATED WITH POST—RELEASE HOOKING MORTALITY Kerry E. Flaherty, Brent L. Winner, Julie L. Vecchio, and Theodore S. Switzer....................................................................................29—41 CHARACTERIZATION OF ICHTHYOPLANKTON IN THE NORTHEASTERN GULF OF MEXICO FROM SEAMAP PLANK- TON SURVEYS, 1982—1999 Joanne Lyczkowski—Shultz, David S. Hanisko, Kenneth J. Sulak, Ma gorzata Konieczna, and Pamela J. Bond ..................................43—98 ł GULF AND CARIBBEAN RE Short Communications DEPURATION OF MACONDA (MC—252) OIL FOUND IN HETEROTROPHIC SCLERACTINIAN CORALS (TUBASTREA COCCINEA AND TUBASTREA MICRANTHUS) ON OFFSHORE OIL/GAS PLATFORMS IN THE GULF Steve R. Kolian, Scott Porter, Paul W. Sammarco, and Edwin W. Cake, Jr........................................................................................99—103 EFFECTS OF CLOSURE OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER GULF OUTLET ON SALTWATER INTRUSION AND BOTTOM WATER HYPOXIA IN LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN Michael A. Poirrier .............................................................................................................................................................................105—109 DISTRIBUTION AND LENGTH FREQUENCY OF INVASIVE LIONFISH (PTEROIS SP.) IN THE NORTHERN GULF OF MEXICO OF MEXICO Alexander Q. Fogg, Eric R. Hoffmayer, William B. Driggers III, Matthew D. Campbell, Gilmore J. Pellegrin, and William Stein SEARCH ............................................................................................................................................................................................................111—115 NOTES ON THE BIOLOGY OF INVASIVE LIONFISH (PTEROIS SP.) FROM THE NORTHCENTRAL GULF OF MEXICO William Stein III, Nancy J. Brown—Peterson, James S. Franks, and Martin T. O’Connell ...............................................................117—120 RECORD BODY SIZE FOR THE RED LIONFISH, PTEROIS VOLITANS (SCORPAENIFORMES), IN THE SOUTHERN GULF OF MEXICO Alfonso Aguilar—Perera, Leidy Perera—Chan, and Luis Quijano—Puerto ...........................................................................................121—123 EFFECTS OF BLACK MANGROVE (AVICENNIA GERMINANS) EXPANSION ON SALTMARSH (SPARTINA ALTERNI- FLORA) BENTHIC COMMUNITIES OF THE SOUTH TEXAS COAST Jessica Lunt, Kimberly McGlaun, and Elizabeth M. Robinson..........................................................................................................125—129 TIME—ACTIVITY BUDGETS OF STOPLIGHT PARROTFISH (SCARIDAE: SPARISOMA VIRIDE) IN BELIZE: CLEANING INVITATION AND DIURNAL PATTERNS Wesley A. Dent and Gary R. Gaston .................................................................................................................................................131—135 FIRST RECORD OF A NURSE SHARK, GINGLYMOSTOMA CIRRATUM, WITHIN THE MISSISSIPPI SOUND Jill M. Hendon, Eric R. Hoffmayer, and William B. Driggers III......................................................................................................137—139 REVIEWERS ........................................................................................................................................................................................................141 INSTRUCTION TO AUTHORS ...............................................................................................................................................................142-143 Published by © 2013 The University of Southern Mississippi, Gulf Coast Published by Research Laboratory. MARCH 2013 Printed in the United States of America ISSN: 1528—0470 703 East Beach Drive All rights reserved. No part of this publication covered by the Ocean Springs, Mississippi 39564 copyright hereon may be reproduced or copied in any form or 228.872.4200 • FAX: 228.872.4204 by any means without written permission from the publisher. Ocean Springs, Mississippi www.usm.edu/gcrl Gulf and Caribbean Research Vol 29, SC1-4, 2018 Manuscript received, October 10, 2017; accepted January 23, 2018 DOI: 10.18785/gcr.2901.03 SHORT COMMUNICATION PRELIMINARY AGE ESTIMATES FOR FEMALE SOUTHERN STINGRAYS (HYPANUS AMERICANUS) FROM SOUTHWESTERN FLORIDA, USA Abigail H. P. Hayne1, Gregg R. Poulakis2, Jason C. Seitz3 and James A. Sulikowski1,* 1Marine Science Department, University of New England, Biddeford, ME, USA; 2Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Charlotte Harbor Field Laboratory, Port Charlotte, FL, USA; 3ANAMAR Environmental Consulting, Inc., Gainesville, FL, USA; *corresponding author, email: [email protected] KEY WORDS: Dasyatidae, age and growth, life history, Charlotte Harbor, Gulf of Mexico INTRODUCTION The Southern Stingray, Hypanus americanus (previously Dasyatis americana), is a common whiptail stingray of west- ern Atlantic coastal waters, including the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico (Robins and Ray 1986, Last et al. 2016). Although this stingray is important to ecotourism in the Caribbean Sea (Corcoran 2006) and is routinely captured as bycatch within southern trawl fisheries (Graham et al. 2009), it is currently not under direct threat of overexploita- tion. While biological and behavioral information has been reported for this species based on studies of both captive (Henningsen and Leaf 2010) and wild individuals (Funicelli 1975, Chapman et al. 2003, Corcoran 2006, Semeniuk et al. 2007), significant gaps in life history remain. The species is considered data deficient by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) (Grubbs et al. 2016). Age information forms the basis for calculations of growth and mortality rates, as well as productivity, making it one of the most important variables for estimating a popu- lation’s status, including assessments of the risks associated with exploitation (Cailliet and Goldman 2004). Henningsen and Leaf (2010) provided initial age data on captive southern stingrays; however, no complementary work has been con- ducted on wild populations. Since growth in captivity may FIGURE 1. Cross-section of a vertebral centrum from a 1107 mm disc not accurately reflect growth in the wild (Mohan 1996), the width female Southern Stingray (Hypanus americanus) estimated to be 15 goal of the present study was to provide preliminary age— years old. Structural parts of the vertebra are labeled and growth bands at—width estimates of wild caught specimens using counts of (purported annuli) are indicated by white circles. growth bands from vertebral centra. thawed, muscle was removed, and vertebrae were stored in MATERIALS AND METHODS 70% ethanol. Individual centra were then sectioned along Southern Stingrays were opportunistically collected from the sagittal plane using a Raytech Gem saw with 2 sintered angler fishing tournaments and charter boat anglers from diamond blades separated by a 0.6 mm spacer to produce a 2004 to 2012 in Charlotte Harbor, Florida. One male was bowtie shaped cross section. The cross sections were then collected, and was omitted from the study due to potential mounted on microscope slides using clear resin (Cytoseal 60; differences in age and growth information between sexes. Fisher Scientific, Pittsburgh, PA). Once affixed to the slides, Upon capture, disc width (DW; mm) was measured as a all cross sections were then viewed and photographed with