This study compares the reproductive potential of red snapper (Lutjanus campechanus) at artificial and natural habitats. Natural habitats are areas of vertical relief created from biogenic/geologic processes that are thought to be the historical centers of abundance for red snapper in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Red snapper were collected from 2011 to 2013 at three natural habitat sites and two artificial habitat oil and gas platform sites. The mean gonadosomatic indices (GSI), maturity at size and age, spawning indicators, batch fecundity, spawning frequency, and annual fecundity for red snapper at each habitat were analyzed to examine reproductive potential among sites and habitats. Results indicate red snapper on natural habitats exhibited higher mean GSI than those on artificial habitats during peak spawning season. Female red snapper on natural habitats showed 98% maturity, compared to 52% maturity of females on artificial habitats. These data support previous observation of demographic differences in red snapper reproduction between natural and artificial habitats. The differences observed may be due to red snapper at natural habitats being in better nutritional condition than red snapper on artificial habitats, thus allowing red snapper on natural habitats to invest more energy in reproduction and less energy towards rapid growth early in life.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LSU/oai:etd.lsu.edu:etd-10232014-133051 |
| Date | 06 November 2014 |
| Creators | Glenn, Hilary Day |
| Contributors | Cowan, James H., Jr., Marx, Brian, Maiti, Kanchan |
| Publisher | LSU |
| Source Sets | Louisiana State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-10232014-133051/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached herein a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to LSU or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below and in appropriate University policies, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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