Understanding the spatial and environmental variation in demographic processes of fisheries target species, such as coral grouper (Genus: Plectropomus ), is important for establishing effective management and conservation strategies. Herein we compare the demography of Plectropomus leopardus and P. laevis between Australia's Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (GBRMP), which has been subject to sustained and extensive fishing press...

The effects of size and age on reproductive dynamics of common coral trout Plectropomus leopardus populations were compared between coral reefs open or closed (no‐take marine reserves) to fishing and among four geographic regions of the Great Barrier Reef ( GBR ), Australia. The specific reproductive metrics investigated were the sex ratio, the proportion of vitellogenic females and the spawning fraction of local populations....

Life‐history characteristics of six tropical Lethrinus species sampled from the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area were compared. Two species groups were identified based on fork length ( L F ): large species with maximum L F > 640 mm (longface emperor Lethrinus olivaceus , yellowlip emperor Lethrinus xanthochilus and spangled emperor Lethrinus nebulosus ) and small species with maximum L F 480 mm (Pacific yellowtail emper...

Patterns of growth in an exploited reef fish Lethrinus miniatus were examined over 5 years (1995–1999) at two spatial scales: (1) among regions of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) separated by >100 km and (2) among reefs within each of these regions, separated by ≤10 km. Mean annual growth of L. miniatus varied significantly among years, but this variation was consistent among ages and regions, indicating that factors that influen...

The reproductive biology of Great Barrier Reef populations of the long‐lived grouper Epinephelus fuscoguttatus (brown‐marbled grouper or flowery cod) was investigated using histological analyses. Evidence provided by gonad morphology and age‐based demographics suggested monandric protogynous hermaphroditism. Younger age groups contained only immature and mature females, and all males were above the size and age of 100% female...

A spatially structured simulation model of the population dynamics and line fishing exploitation of common coral trout, Plectropomus leopardus Lacepède, was used to evaluate the effects of infringement and different amounts and arrangements of marine reserves on the Reef Line Fishery of the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. With no marine reserves and under a constant future effort level equal to that for 1996, the size of the po...

The gonad development in the red‐throat emperor Lethrinus miniatus is described and the first detailed evidence for protogyny in this species provided. The identification of transitional individuals, bimodal sex‐specific size‐frequency distributions and female biased sex ratios suggest that L. miniatus is most likely a protogynous hermaphrodite. Transitional L. miniatus gonads were characterized by the concurrent degeneration...