Age and growth of the scaled herring, Harengula jaguana, from Florida waters, as indicated by microstructure of the sagittae

Scaled herrings, Harengula jaguana (Clupeidae), inhabit nearshore (40-m isobath, rarely 500-m) warm temperate and tropical waters of the western Atlantic Ocean from coastal New Jersey to off southern Brazil, including the waters of Bermuda, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea (Whitehead, 1985). Limited age and growth information exists for H. jaguana. Martinez and Houde (1975) reported ages of up to three years determined from scale circuli of fish collected from Biscayne Bay, Florida. Hubold and Mazzetti (1982) identified three age groups of H. jaguana from Guanabara Bay, Brazil, with length-frequency analysis. However, daily growth increments of otoliths provide a better means of aging short-lived species (Pannella, 1974; Brothers et al., 1976) and are typically better for age determination than are scales (Jones, 1992). The objective of our study was therefore to determine ages from validated periodicities of otolith (sagitta) daily rings and to use the ages and lengths to compare growth rates of H. jaguana from the Atlantic coast with those from the Gulf coast of Florida.