Austin D. Griffin

Comparing Precision of Otolith and Pectoral Spine Age Assessments for Black and Yellow Bullheads

SEAFWA Journal Volume 10, March 2023

Despite the broad geographical range of bullhead catfishes (Ameiurus spp.), their population vital rates have rarely been studied. Estimation of vital rates requires accurate age estimates and otoliths generally are considered to be the most accurate and precise aging structure for most fish species. However, pectoral spines of some ictalurid species have been used to generate precise age estimates of younger fish. Although previous studies have compared age estimates between otoliths and spines for large-bodied, longer-lived catfishes, there have been few comparable studies...

Black Bullhead Otolith Annual and Daily Increment Validation

SEAFWA Journal Volume 9, March 2022

Otolith age validation studies are essential to identify the accuracy of using otoliths to age fish; however, black bullhead (Ameiurus melas) otolith validation studies have not been conducted for either adult or age-0 individuals. Therefore, the objective of this study was to validate annu- lus and daily ring formation in lapilli otoliths of black bullheads. We assessed timing of annulus formation using marginal increment analysis on 409 black bullheads caught monthly from July 2015–June 2016 in Lake Carl Etling, Oklahoma. We evaluated daily growth increment deposition by...

Evaluation of Otoliths and Four Non-lethal Structures for Estimating Age and Population Characteristics of Three Black Bass Species

SEAFWA Journal Volume 9, March 2022

Black bass (Micropterus spp.) are the most popular freshwater sportfishes in North America and are intensively managed. Successful management of fish populations relies on dependable age data for estimation of age determined population rate functions (growth, mortality, and recruit- ment). Otoliths provide accurate age estimates compared to most other aging structures, but otolith removal requires fish to be sacrificed, leading some fisheries managers to rely on alternative, non-lethal methods for estimating ages of fish. However, non-lethal aging structures may produce biased age...

Relationship Between Water Quality and Relative Weight of Four Sportfish Species in Oklahoma Impoundments

SEAFWA Journal Volume 7, March 2020

This project sought to classify 108 Oklahoma impoundments based on water quality as well as determine if water-quality parameters in these impoundments influenced the relative weight (Wr) of largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides), white crappie (Pomoxis annularis) and black crappie (Pomoxis nigromaculatus), and channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus). Agglomerative hierarchical clustering and subsequent discriminant analysis of seven water-quality parameters resulted in the grouping of impoundments into three classes. Chlorophyll-a, salinity, pH, and dissolved oxygen were the most important...