Comparative demography of commercially-harvested snappers and an emperor from American Samoa.

The age-based life history of two commercially-important species of snapper (Lutjanidae) and one emperor (Lethrinidae) were characterized from the nearshore fishery of Tutuila, American Samoa. Examination of sagittal otoliths across multiple months and years confirmed the annual deposition of increments and highlighted marked variation in life-history patterns among the three meso-predator species. The humpback red snapper is a medium-bodied gonochoristic species which exhibits striking sexual dimorphism in length-at-age and consequent growth trajectories and has a life span estimated to be at least 27 years.