234 



Fishery Bulletin 91(2), 1993 



requires information on daily ration, which is not avail- 

 able for L. vittus and apparently has not been deter- 

 mined for any other lutjanid. Nemipterous furcosis, a 

 co-occurring species on the N.W. Shelf, has a daily 

 ration in the wild of 2.3% for 23-29 cm fish (K.J. 

 Sainsbury, CSIRO Div. Fish., pers. commun. 1992). 

 Epinephalus guttatus of similar size to L. vittus have a 

 daily ration of 4%> when fed surplus food once each day 

 in the laboratory (Menzel 1960). Assuming a some- 

 what generous daily ration of 4% for L. vittus and a 

 mean prey energy content of 4.2 kJ /g wet weight (Crisp 

 1971) would result in an approximate annual repro- 

 ductive efficiency of 4.8% for 90 spawnings and 8% for 

 150 spawnings. This is similar to an annual reproduc- 

 tive effort in Engraulis rnordax of 8-11% (Hunter & 

 Leong 1981), a much smaller, shorter-lived species. The 

 reproductive efficiency of the goby Pomatoschistus 

 microps is considered to be among the highest ever 

 calculated (Rogers 1988), although its efficiency was 

 calculated using energy consumed over the 16 wk pe- 

 riod of spawning and not the whole year. The reproduc- 

 tive efficiency of P. microps, calculated using annual 

 energy intake, would be -8.7-13.5%. The reproductive 

 efficiency of L. vittus is comparatively high considering 

 that this effort is sustained over many years. 



Acknowledgments 



We thank P. Binni and D. Le for laboratory assistance, 

 and all the people who assisted in the fieldwork on the 

 North West Shelf Program. K. Haskard provided sta- 

 tistical advice and modeled lunar periodicity in spawn- 

 ing activity. S. Blaber, J.S. Gunn, R.E. Johannes, and 

 two anonymous referees reviewed the manuscript and 

 suggested many improvements. 



Citations 



Alheit, J., V. H. Alarcon, & B. J. Macewicz 



1984 Spawning frequency and sex ratio in the Peruvian 

 anchovy, Engraulis ringens. Calif. Coop. Oceanic 

 Fish. Invest. Rep. 25:43-52. 

 Campos, A. G., & A. K. M. Bashirullah 



1975 Biologia del pargo Lutjanus griseus (Linn.) de la 

 Isla de Cubagua, Venezuela. II. Maduracion sexual 

 y fecundidad. Bol. Inst. Oceanogr. Univ. Oriente 

 Cumana 14:109-116. 

 Clarke, T. A. 



1987 Fecundity and spawning frequency of the Hawai- 

 ian anchovy or nehu, Encrasicholina purpurea. Fish. 

 Bull., U.S. 85:127-138. 



Colin, P.L., & I.E. Clavijo 



1988 Spawning activity of fishes producing pelagic eggs 

 on a shelf edge coral reef, southwestern Puerto 

 Rico. Bull. Mar. Sci. 43:249-279. 



Crisp, D. J. 



1971 Energy flow measurements. In Holmes, N.A., & 



A.D. Mclntyre (eds.), Methods for the study of ma- 

 rine benthos, p. 197-323. IBP (Int. Biol. Prog.) 

 Handb. 16. 

 Davis, T. L. O., & G. J. West 



1992 Growth and mortality of Lutjanus vittus (Quoy 

 and Gaimard) from the North West Shelf of 

 Australia. Fish. Bull., U.S. 90:395-404. 

 De Moraes, N. U. A. 



1970Sobre a desova e a fecundidade do pargo, Lutjanus 

 purpureus Poey no nordeste Brasiliero. Bol. Estud. 

 Pesca 10(11:7-20. 

 Erhardt, H. 



1977 Beitrage zur biologie von Lutjanus synagris 

 (Linnaeus 1758) an der Kolumbianischen 

 Atlantikkuste. Int. Rev. Gesamten Hydrobiol. 

 62:161-171. 

 Erikson, D. L., Hightower, J. E., and G. D. Grossman 

 1985 The relative gonadal index: an alternative index 

 for quantification of reproductive condition. Comp. 

 Biochem. Physiol. 81A ( 1 1:117-120. 

 Everson, A. R. 



1984 Spawning and gonadal maturation of the ehu, 

 Etelis carbunculus, in the northwestern Hawaiian 

 Islands. In Grigg, R.W., & K.Y. Tanoue (eds.), Proa, 

 Second symposium on resource investigations in the 

 Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, vol. 2, p. 128- 

 148. UNIHI-SEAGRANT-MR-84-01, Univ. Hawaii, 

 Honolulu. 

 Everson, A. R., H. A. Williams, & B. M. Ito 



1989 Maturation and reproduction in two Hawaiian 

 eteline snappers, uku, Aprion virescens, and onaga, 

 Etelis coruscans. Fish. Bull., U.S. 87:877-888. 

 Forberg, K.G. 



1983 Maturity classification and growth of capelin, Mai- 

 Intus villosus ( M. ), oocytes. J. Fish. Biol. 22:485-496. 

 Gladstone, W, & M. Westoby 



1988 Growth and reproduction in Canthigaster valentini 

 (Pisces, Tetraodontidae): a comparison of a toxic reef 

 fish with other reef fishes. Environ. Biol. Fishes 

 21:207-221. 

 Grimes, C. B. 



1987 Reproductive biology of the Lutjanidae: a re- 

 view. In Polovina, J.J., & S. Ralston (eds.). Tropical 

 snappers and groupers: biology and fisheries man- 

 agement, p. 239-294. Westview Press, Boulder. 

 Grimes, C. B., & G. R. Huntsman 



1980 Reproductive biology of the vermilion snapper, 

 Rhomboplites aurorubens (Cuvier), from North and 

 South Carolina waters. Fish. Bull, U.S. 78:137-146. 

 Hilge, V. 



1977 On the determination of the stage of gonad ripe- 

 ness in female bony fishes. Meeresforschung 25:149- 

 155. 

 Hislop, J. R. G., & M. A. Bell 



1987 Observations on the size, dry weight and energy 

 content of the eggs of some demersal fish species from 

 British marine waters. J. Fish. Biol. 31:1-20. 

 Holloway, P. E. 



1983 Tides on the Australian North-West Shelf. Aust. 

 J. Mar. Freshwater Res. 34:213-230. 



