Age and Growth of a Subtropical Marsh Fish: The Gulf Killifish, Fundulus grandis

In an attempt to constrain growth rates and develop better methods for aging Gulf Killifish, Fundulus grandis, several efforts were made, beginning in November of 2013, to capture individuals with minnow traps in two marsh pools near the LUMCON field station in Chauvin, LA. Over 800 individuals have been captured, measured, tagged with small coded wire tags, and immersed in oxytetracycline (OTC) to mark otoliths with a fluorescent ring for aging purposes. These individuals have been released and efforts have been made to recapture tagged individuals (94 recaptured thus far). Data collection is ongoing, including initial and final length (to calculate growth per time released), date tagged and date recaptured, otolith measurements (amount of otolith accreted since OTC marking, overall otolith size, etc.), catch per unit effort, sex, and location released and recaptured.