FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 71, NO. 1 



Figure 1. — Agonistic display 



of aquarium-held Serrani- Ik 



i 



cuius pumilio. 



ally with the victor in pursuit. Quite similar 

 ag'onistic behavior involving fin-spreading and 

 tail-beating has been described in Serranus 

 scriba (Kirchshofer, 1954). Subsequently, the 

 subordinate individuals in an aquarium remained 

 in precarious positions in the corners of the 

 aquarium some distance above the bottom. When 

 these fish left such positions, except during pe- 

 riods of feeding, they were soon attacked by the 

 dominant individual and returned to their "sanc- 

 tuaries" near the surface of the water. 



Once, agonistic behavior was observed be- 

 tween two fish on the East Pass jetties, but in 

 this case the retreating individual had its dor- 

 sal fin greatly expanded. 



REPRODUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT 



Microscopic examination of, sectioned gonads 

 (Figure 2) proves that Serraniculus pumilio is 

 a synchronous hermaphrodite, as Ginsburg 

 (1952) originally supposed. His statement that 

 the testicular tissue is "interspersed with the 

 masses of ripe roe" is misleading, however. The 

 gonads of Serraniculus are identical to those of 

 Serranus in that the testicular portion is well 

 separated from the ovarian tissue and is re- 



stricted to narrow bands which lie along the 

 ventral surface of each gonad (Reinboth, 1962; 

 Smith, 1965). 



The smallest and the largest specimens ex- 

 amined had both ovarian and testicular tissue 

 in the gonad and many were seen with both 

 mature eggs and sperm present. As with Ser- 

 ranus, internal self-fertilization is undoubtedly 

 impossible since separate ducts are present to 

 carry eggs and sperm. Clark (1959, 1965) 

 found that under aquarium conditions, Serranus 

 subligariu^ could fertilize its own eggs, but mates 

 with another individual and exchanges gametes 

 under normal conditions. Reinboth (1962) also 

 induced self-fertilization in Serranus scriba but 

 suggested that paired spawning normally occurs. 

 The same is probably true for Serraniculus. 



On 10 May 1968, several pairs of Serraniculus 

 pumilio apparently involved in reproductive be- 

 havior were seen on the sand bottom at the base 

 of the St. Andrew Bay jetties, on the Gulf side 

 of the west jetty in water about 2 m deep. The 

 water temperature was 23°C, Pairs would move 

 slowly about in close proximity with one indi- 

 vidual following behind the other. The trailing 

 individual would repeatedly nudge the anal re- 

 gion of its mate. Clark (1959) noted such nudg- 



238 



