Larval duration of the non-native IndoPacific lionfish was estimated from samples collected along the Bahamian Archipelago using sagittal otoliths. Settlement marks, characterized by daily growth increments with reduced coloration, less definitive margins, and a re-orientation of the growth axes and otolith shape, were determined for 28 individuals. Settlement age was between 20 and 35 days with a mean of 26.2 days. Comparisons of settlement age to other littoral and reef fish species suggest that lionfish settlement age is moderate to relatively low. Lionfish pelagic larval duration is apparently sufficient to allow their rapid establishment and wide geographic range in the western Atlantic and Caribbean.

Menhaden occupy an important position in estuarine food webs, thus the rate processes associated with their feeding are critical to the ecosystem management of fishery and ecological resources. Atlantic menhaden feed on a wide range of plankton, the size and food quality of which change ontogenetically. We analyzed the functional morphology of the menhaden feeding apparatus in a size series of menhaden representative of juveniles and the adult migratory stock. The physical dimensions of gill arches and rakers increased isometrically with fish length; however, branchiospinule spacing, the dimension that forms the sieve apertures of the branchial basket, scaled allometrically with fish length. Juvenile menhaden from North Carolina have branchiospinule spacings that averaged 12 microm, with three arch subsections of average spacing < 10 microm. Spacings did not increase with juvenile growth until the first allometric inflection point at approximately 100 mm fork length (FL). Spacing data for juveniles from other locations suggests spacing increases with latitude. Spacings increase with fish length in adults until a second inflection at 200 mm FL, after which spacing averages 37 microm. These data suggest menhaden juveniles filter smaller plankton with higher filtration efficiency than previously considered and that regional recruitment may affect adult distribution through foraging preferences.

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