BOWERING: DISTRIBUTION OF WITCH FLOUNDER 



therefore, that sexual maturity may be more de- 

 pendent upon body size than on age; the hor- 

 mones that stimulate sexual maturity may only 

 be produced when the fish and gonads reach a 

 certain size or stage of development. Such a con- 

 clusion would not be reached from the results pre- 

 sented here for Div. 2J and 3L, and there are 

 other exceptions in the literature such as those of 

 Fleming (1960) and Pinhorn (1966) for cod in the 

 Newfoundland and Labrador area. It should be 

 noted, however, that although there are statisti- 

 cally significant reductions in mean sizes at 

 maturity presented here, they may not be bio- 

 logically significant; the actual relationships 

 between size and age at sexual maturity is still 

 unclear although some physiologists, such as 

 Aim (1959), believe that it is closely related to 

 initial growth rate. Since little is known about 

 the early life history of witch flounder in the 

 Newfoundland-Labrador area, such relationships 

 between maturity, size, and age are difficult to 

 evaluate conclusively. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 



The assistance of C. Butt who drafted all the 

 illustrations is gratefully acknowledged. 



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