Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2006 The Life History, Reproductive Ecology, and Demography of the Red Porgy, Pagrus Pagrus, in the Northeastern Gulf of Mexico Douglas Alan Devries Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES THE LIFE HISTORY, REPRODUCTIVE ECOLOGY, AND DEMOGRAPHY OF THE RED PORGY, Pagrus pagrus, IN THE NORTHEASTERN GULF OF MEXICO By DOUGLAS ALAN DEVRIES A Dissertatio submitted to the Departme t of Biological Scie ce i partial fulfillme t of the requireme ts for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Degree A,arded- Spri g Semester, .000 The members of the Committee appro1e the Dissertatio of Douglas A. DeVries defe ded o December 3, .003. _______________________________ 5oseph Tra1is Professor Co-Directi g Dissertatio _______________________________ Christopher C. 7oe ig Professor Co-Directi g Dissertatio _______________________________ Dua e Meeter Outside Committee Member _______________________________ 5oh S. Elam Committee Member _______________________________ Churchill B. Grimes Committee Member _______________________________ Do R. Le1ita Committee Member Appro1ed- ___________________________________________________ Timothy S. Moerla d, Chair, Departme t of Biological Scie ce ___________________________________________________ 5oseph Tra1is, Dea , College of Arts a d Scie ces The Office of Graduate Studies has 1erified a d appro1ed the abo1e amed committee members. ii For my pare ts, Peter a d Arle e DeVries my ,ife, 7risti a d Dr. 7eit8 Haburay, ,ho got me hoo9ed o ma9i g a career of studyi g fish iii AC7NO:LEDGEMENTS I o,e a huge debt of gratitude to ma y curre t a d former colleagues at the Pa ama City Laboratory of the Natio al Mari e Fisheries Ser1ice. I tha 9 Churchill Grimes for gi1i g me the opportu ity to begi a career ,ith the Natio al Mari e Fisheries Ser1ice, for much e courageme t a d support (scie tific, moral, fi a cial, a d logistical) from my earliest days at the lab to de1elop professio ally a d pursue a PhD, for all his efforts to establish a cooperati1e i stitute ,ith the FSU Biology Departme t, for allo,i g me to de1ote much of my time a d effort to ,or9i g to,ards this degree, a d last but ot least, for ser1i g as a 1aluable member of my committee, pro1idi g much ad1ice a d co structi1e comme ts for ma y lo g years. Herb 7umpf, as lab director after Churchill, ,as also extremely supporti1e a d e couragi g throughout his te ure. I especially tha 9 him for pro1idi g the 1essel a d equipme t I eeded to co duct my research a d for allo,i g me the freedom to collect the samples I eeded ma y miles from la d. I tha 9 Pete Sherida for his patie ce, support, a d for allo,i g me the time a d freedom to complete this project. A special tha 9s to fello, stude ts a d ?Fish Guys“ A dy Da1id a d Bob Allma , ,ithout ,hose frie dship, e courageme t, a d help I probably ,ould ot ha1e made it through those A semesters of commuti g to Tallahassee .-A times a ,ee9, the 0 AM departures, the 4 PM Friday Nat Hist semi ars, the all ighters for statistics classes, multi1ariate statistics, graduate re1ie,s, committee meeti gs, a d of course, prelims. I tha 9 A dy also for all his help i desig i g, buildi g, a d mai tai i g the aquaculture facilities a d his al,ays good ad1ice a d assista ce ,ith mai tai i g my fish i capti1ity. Extra special tha 9s to Chris Palmer a d Bill :alli g for all their help i the field a d lab, for sacrifici g their bac9s a d 9id eys o all those 1.-14 hr, A3 mile trips offshore, all for the sa9e of red porgy. Tha 9s also to Bill for all the help ,ith the capti1e fish a d processi g histo samples. A host of other co,or9ers, i ter s, a d 1olu teers also helped out i the field a d lab, i cludi g 5oh Brusher, 5oe Mi9ulas, Clare Ma gum, a d Da Harris. Ala Colli s spe t ma y hours passi g o his 9 o,ledge of fish reproductio a d reproducti1e histology, pro1idi g sou d ad1ice, a d a s,eri g u e di g questio s. Tha 9s to Be1erly Bar ett a d Bill 7li e for helpi g so much i processi g histo a d i1 otolith samples. I tha 9 Gary Fit8hugh for bei g a good frie d, a great sou di g board, a co sta t source of stimulati g scie tific discussio s a d good ideas, al,ays e couragi g, bei g 1ery patie t ,ith my slo, progress, a d for letti g me use his boat a d shop. Very special tha 9s are due to my co-chairs 5oe Tra1is a d Chris 7oe ig for teachi g me much, e1er gi1i g up o me, a d for bei g a co sta t source of support, e courageme t, a d ad1ice for 10 lo g years. ChrisDs e thusiasm, i sight, creati1ity, a d exte si1e ,or9 o gag first i spired me to explore the ,orld of protogy y a d reproducti1e ecology. 5oe has bee a extraordi ary teacher, ad1isor, me tor, ad1ocate, a d frie d. I greatly appreciate all the time he i 1ested i me, his ,illi g ess to ta9e o such a o traditio al stude t, his al,ays i sightful, co structi1e, positi1e feedbac9, a d his great se se of humor. E1ery meeti g I had ,ith 5oe ,as uplifti g a d I ca Dt imagi e ha1i g a better major professor. My other committee members E Do Le1ita , 5oh Elam, a d Dua e Meeter E o doubt e1er imagi ed they ,ere sig i g up for a 10 yr term, ,ere also 1ery patie t a d e couragi g, a d pro1ided much sou d ad1ice a d differe t perspecti1es. Dua e MeeterDs courses o ANOVA a d regressio ,ere u questio ably the t,o most useful, e joyable statistics classes I e1er had. Do Le1ita Ds questio s a d comme ts ,ere al,ays challe gi g a d thought - pro1o9i g. I especially tha 9 Da1id :ya s9i, a d also Pat Harris, Oleg Pashu9, Scott Meister, a d 7athy Grimball at the South Caroli a Mari e Resources Research I stitute for teachi g me so much about the reproducti1e histology a d agei g of red porgy, a d for so ge erously processi g 700 histological samples for free. Deb Murie at the U i1ersity of Florida 9i dly re1ealed the mysteries of brea9i g a d bur i g otoliths. Peter Hood ge erously pro1ided all his ra, data a d otolith sectio s from his grou dbrea9i g study of red porgy i the Gulf. Bob Dixo at the NMFS Beaufort lab graciously pro1ided ma y years of Gulf red porgy data from the Headboat Sur1ey. 7e Sulac a d George De is ,ith USGS Gai es1ille pro1ided ma y specime s from sites as far ,est as Alabama a d allo,ed me to participate i some of their cruises. I o,e much tha 9s to 5udy Bo,ers, ,ho cheerfully guided me safely through the bureaucratic ma8es of the graduate school a d biology departme t of FSU for these 10 lo g years. 1 I am greatly i debted to the Natio al Mari e Fisheries Ser1ice for gi1i g me the pri1ilege of pursui g my PhD a d for pro1idi g all of my fu di g a d logistical support. A d fi ally, I ,a t to tha 9 my pare ts, my three daughters E Rachel, Ashley, a d Laura, a d most of all my ,o derful ,ife a d best frie d 7risti , for u e di g e courageme t a d support, a d for putti g up ,ith a dad a d husba d ,ho spe t ,ay too much time a,ay from home fooli g arou d ,ith red porgies for too ma y years 1i TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables .............................................................................................................................. 1iii List of Figures ................................................................................................................................. x Abstract .............................................................................................................................. xi1 INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................................................1 1. SIGE AND SEX SELECTIVITY IN HOO7 AND LINE SAMPLING FOR RED PORGY....3 .. ASPECTS OF REPRODUCTION IN RED PORGY IN THE NORTHEASTERN GULF OF MEXICO........................................................................................................................................17 A. SMALL SCALE SPATIAL HETEROGENEITY IN LIFE HISTORY TRAITS AND DEMOGRAPHICS OF PAGRUS PAGRUS (SPARIDAE), A PROTOGYNOUS REEF FISH IN THE NORTHEASTERN GULF OF MEXICO.............................................................34 4. SPATIAL VARIABILITY IN MATURITY, RATES AND TIMING OF SEX CHANGE, AND SEX RATIOS OF PAGRUS PAGRUS (SPARIDAE) IN THE NORTHEASTERN GULF OF MEXICO..................................................................................................................................9. CONCLUSIONS..........................................................................................................................117 APPENDIX A. SUPPLEMENTARY FIGURES.......................................................................1.. APPENDIX B. SUPPLEMENTARY TABLES.........................................................................14. REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................147 BIOGRAPHICAL S7ETCH .......................................................................................................100 1ii LIST OF TABLES Table 1.1. Results of t,o differe t ru s tests for si8e selecti1ity i hoo9 a d li e collectio s of red porgy (So9al a d Rohlf 1909, Gar 1999). IJ0.03. s J ot sig ifica t .............................1. Table 1... Results of ru s tests for sex selecti1ity i hoo9 a d li e collectio s of red porgy (So9al a d Rohlf 1909, Gar 1999).