Growth of juvenile red snapper Lutjanus campechanus, in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico.

The red snapper, Lutjanus campechenus, has received considerable attention in the past due to its importance as a commercial and sport fish in the Gulf of Mexico. Most published material deals with the fishery and is summarized in Carpenter (1965). Few major papers have dealt with the natural history of the red snapper. Moseley (1965) reported on growth, reproduction, and food habits of red snapper taken by trawl and handline off the Texas coast. He determined age and growth rate from scales by assuming that growth checks were produced during the spawning season. Bradley and Bryan(1975) also sampled red snapper along the middle Texas coast with trawl and hook and line. They were unable to distinguish age classes by length frequencis and attributed that to an extended spawning season. Futch and Bruger (1976) used otolith readings to determine age and growth of red snapper off the coast of Florida. This paper presents new information on the growth of young snapper and relates that information to their occurrance on an artificial reef.