FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 85, NO. 1 



13 



14 



15 



16 17 18 



TOTAL LENGTH (CM) 



19 



20 



21 22 



Figure 8.— Length-maturity relationship in 246 female and 223 male California scorpion- 

 fish collected in the Southern California Bight, 1981-83. 



s • 



</> A 



u 



-I 



« 

 1.3 



10 



.FEMALES 

 • MALES 



-jia — rts — TKkn — jjpR — wAt — jdnn — jot? — wis — s^pt — jsir — Riv — tsfer 



MONTH 



7.0 



6.0 



S.0 



(0 



111 

 4.0 < 



s 



ui 



3.0 



10 



1.0 



Figure 9.— Seasonal changes in the gonosomatic indices (GSI = gonad weight as a p*centage 

 of total body weight) of female and male California scorpionfish (based on 396 females and 654 

 males). Vertical lines indicate 95% confidence intervals of the mean. 



We know little of the location of California 

 scorpionfish larvae in the Southern California Bight. 

 Over the past 30 -i- yr, few have been taken in off- 

 shore waters despite considerable numbers of ich- 

 thyoplankton surveys (Moser^). Moreover, only a 

 few are known from ichthyoplankton surveys con- 

 ducted in inshore waters (Barnett et al. 1984; 

 McGowan^^). Particularly puzzling is the lack of lar- 



'G. Moser, Southwest Fisheries Center La Jolla Laboratory, Na- 

 tional Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, P.O. Box 271, La Jolla, 

 CA 92038, pers. commun. September 1985. 



'"G. McGowan, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 



vae taken in King Harbor, Redondo Beach. No 

 larvae were caught during a 7-yr monthly survey, 

 of both surface and bottom waters (Jordan ^i) despite 

 the abundance of young-of-the-year and 1-yr-old fish 

 in the Harbor. 



It appears that California scorpionfish utilize an 

 "explosive breeding assemblage" reproductive mode 



900 Exposition Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90007, pers. commun. May 

 1985. 



"G. Jordan, VANTUNA Research Group, Occidental College, 

 1600 Campus Road, Los Angeles, CA 90041, pers. commun. May 

 1985. 



108 



