WYLLIE ECHEVERRIA: REPRODUCTION OF CALIFORNIA ROCKFISHES 



Table 8.— Age and size at 50% maturity for male (M) and female (F) Sebastes by area. All lengths are converted to fork length for comparison 

 (Echeverria and Lenarz 1 984). 



Species of 

 Sebastes 



Alaska 



British 

 Columbia 



Washington 



Oregon 



California 



this study 



auriculatus 



M 



F 

 entomelas 



M 



F 

 flavidus 



M 



goodei 



M 

 F 

 melanops 

 M 



mystinus 



M 



F 

 pauclspinis 



M 



F 

 pinniger 



M 



F 



{ 



11-15 yr^ 

 41-45 cm FL 



10-13 yr, 



40-42 cm FL^ 

 9-12 yr, 



39-42 cm FL 



37 cm FL^ 



38 cm FL 



40 cm FL, 



40.5 cm FL^'^ 

 42 cm FL, 



45 cm FL 



<57 cm FL^ 

 <62 cm FL 



41 cm FL^'^ 

 48 cm FL 



4 yr, 23 cm FL^ 

 4 yr, 25 cm FL 



3 yr, 21 cm FL'' 

 3-4 yr, 33 cm FL 



5 yr, 45 cmFL^ 



6 yr, 48 cm FL 



4 yr, 33 cm FL^ 

 7 yr, 38 cm FL 



26 cm FL^ 

 37 cm FL 



5 yr^ 



6 yr 



3yr^ 

 4 yr 



12 yr, 39 cm FL^ 

 10 yr, 43 cm FL 



4 yr, 29 cm FL" 



5 yr, 31 cm FL" 



4 yr, 28 cm FL" 

 4 yr, 30 cm FL 



6-7 yr^ 

 6 yr 



[4yr" 



1 37 cm FL 



15-6 yr" 

 (33 cm FL 



5 yr, 31 cm FL 

 5 yr, 31 cm FL 



5 yr, 32 cm FL 



5 yr, 36 cm FL 



6 yr, 32 cm FL 



7 yr, 33 cm FL 



3 yr, 29 cm rL 

 3 yr, 32 cm FL 



6 yr, 35 cm FL 



7 yr, 40 cm FL 



5 yr, 26 cm FL 



6 yr, 28 cm FL 



3 yr, 39 cm FL 



4 yr, 45 cm FL 



7 yr, 39 cm FL 

 9 yr, 43 cm FL 



'Washington et al. 1978; ^Westrheim 1975; ^Barss and Echeverria 1987; ^Phillips 1964; ^Rosenthal et al. 1982; sQunderson m al. 1980; 'Barker 1979; 

 sMcClure 1982; sMiller et al. 1967. 



at maturity should be determined before subtle 

 shifts in these parameters are studied. 



Later spawning in high latitude populations oc- 

 curs in some teleosts as a response to temperature 

 and photoperiod (Wootton 1984). The existence of 

 geographical trends for spawning months can be 

 determined for a species if data exist for the same 

 months and years. Parturition occurred somewhat 

 earlier in the southern end of the range of S. 



Table 9. — Age and size of three Sebastes species at 50% matur- 

 ity derived from linear regressions for males (f^) and females (F) 

 by area and by year for the area betv/een Crescent City and Morro 

 Bay. 



maliger, S. ruberrimus, and S. entomelas. Sebastes 

 maliger extruded larvae between May and July off 

 Alaska (Rosenthal et al. 1981, 1982) and between 

 April and July off California during 1982. Sebastes 

 ruberrimus extruded larvae between June and 

 August off Alaska (Rosenthal et al. 1981, 1982) and 

 between April and July off California during 1982. 

 Sebastes entomelas extruded larvae in February off 

 Oregon and in January off California in 1982 (Barss 

 and Echeverria 1987) (Table 6). For species where 

 comparable data exist, parturition is earlier in the 

 southern end of the species range. 



Reproductive seasonality can be classified into one 

 of two broad seasons, early (winter) or late (spring- 

 summer) (Phillips 1964), which seems to hold true 

 throughout a species range (Table 6). The duration 

 of larval extrusion varies from 1 to 9 months and 

 is species-specific. Closely related species have 

 similar seasons of parturition, but the peak month 

 may differ (Table 7). 



Data on parturition may be useful when investi- 

 gating recruitment by estimating annual reproduc- 

 tive success. To predict year-class strength for 

 species of Sebastes, it must be possible to identify 

 species in the juvenile stages. Juvenile identifica- 

 tions have been described for 18 species of rockfish 



247 



