Regional Variations of Hogfish (Lachnolaimus maximus) Life History: Consequences for Spawning Biomass and Egg Production Models

Life history traits of hogfish, a hermaphroditic reef fish, varied between samples from the Florida Keys (south Florida) and the eastern Gulf of Mexico (eastern gulf). Differences in female survivorship were associated with a higher spawning stock biomass-per-recruit (SSB/R) in the eastern gulf than in south Florida (5.3 vs. 2.2 kg). Relative to a virtual, unfished population, SSB/R was 38% in the eastern gulf but only 16% in south Florida. Regional differences in batch fecundity contributed to higher lifetime fecundity in the eastern gulf compared to south Florida (9.7 vs. 2.1 million eggs). Relative to a virtual, unfished population, lifetime fecundity was still about 38% in the eastern gulf but only 8% in south Florida. Lifetime fecundity is not easy to measure, but the results here demonstrate how the SSB/R model can overstate the resiliency of fish stocks to recruitment overfishing. Both models, along with a previously published yield-per-recruit model, demonstrate the potential benefits to yield and recruitment that could result from an increase in the minimum size limit of hogfish.