Age and Growth of Blueline Tilefish From the Mid-Atlantic Bight

The blueline tilefish (Caulolatilus microps) is a demersal marine fish species that inhabits the outer North American continental shelf from Cape Charles, VA, to Campeche, Mexico (Dooley et al. 1978). While blueline tilefish have been exploited by states in the southeastern United States for decades, Virginia fisheries only recently began to exploit this species in the Mid-Atlantic Bight. Our study aimed to develop baseline growth models to estimate productivity based on age and growth. We collected blueline tilefish from the Mid-Atlantic Bight from 2009-2011.  We assigned ages using increment counts from transverse sections of the sagittal otoliths. These ages were used to develop size at age models. Our results indicated spatial structuring within the population. Virginia blueline tilefish were larger at age than blueline tilefish from the previous studies in the U.S. Southeast. Climate change could be a key factor in the introduction of this species to an extended northern range, leading to the observed spatial structure.