Abstract
Growth zones in dorsal spines of grey triggerfish Balistes capriscus from the northern Gulf of Mexico were utilized to estimate growth and examine factors that may affect estimates of size at age. Age was estimated from dorsal‐spine sections of 4687 individuals sampled from U.S. waters during 2003–2013, including both fishery‐independent ( n = 1312) and fishery‐dependent ( n = 3375) samples. Ninety‐six per cent ( n = 4498) of these sections were deemed suitable for ageing; average per cent error between two independent readers was 10·8%. Fork length ( L F ) ranged from 65 to 697 mm and age estimates from 0 to 14 years. Both sex and sample source (fishery‐independent v . recreational) significantly affected estimated size at age for 2–6 year‐old fish. Data were pooled between sources to fit sex‐specific von Bertalanffy growth functions. Results for the female model were L ∞ = 387 mm L F , k = 0·52 year −1 and t 0 = 0·01 year, while for males L ∞ = 405 mm L F , k = 0·55 year −1 and t 0 = 0·02 year. These results were significantly different between sexes and indicate clear sexual dimorphism. Thus, growth should be modelled separately by sex when examining population parameters or conducting stock assessment modelling. The positive bias in estimates of size at age computed for recreational v . fishery‐independent samples also has clear implications for stock assessment as growth functions computed with fishery‐dependent samples would tend to overestimate stock productivity.