HOUDE: ABUNDANCE AND POTENTIAL YIELD OF SCALED SARDINE 



GE 7238 

 Harengula jaguana eggs 



GE 7208 



Harengula jaguana LARVAE 



Nay 1972 



GE 7210 



Harengula jaguana eggs 



June 1972 



GE 7210 

 Harengula jaguana larvae 



FIGURE 3. — Distribution and abundance of scaled sardine eggs and larvae. Catches are standardized to 

 numbers under 10 m 2 of sea surface. A, B. Cruise GE7208, May 1972. C, D. Cruise GE7210, June 1972. 



volume of zooplankton collected in the 333-/um 

 mesh bongo net in 1972-74. Mean zooplankton 

 volume was 153.4 cm 3 /l,000 m 3 in 1972-74 

 (Houde and Chitty 1976). Highest abundances of 

 scaled sardine eggs and larvae occurred where 

 zooplankton volumes exceeded 153.4 cm 3 /l,000 m 3 

 but correlations between zooplankton volume and 

 scaled sardine egg or larval abundance were not 

 significant. Because the 333-^tm mesh did not 

 collect small copepod nauplii, a major food offish 

 larvae, and because zooplankton was not identi- 

 fied, significant correlations between larvae and 

 zooplankton were unlikely. The relatively high 

 catches of eggs at stations with high zooplankton 

 volumes may have reflected the ability of scaled 

 sardine adults to concentrate in rich zooplankton 



areas, rather than indicating that eggs were 

 spawned where food would be abundant for larvae. 



Relative Fecundity and 

 Size at Maturity 



Mean relative fecundity of scaled sardines is 

 528.0 ova/g (Sj = 26.5 ova/g), based on data from 

 22 females collected near Miami, Fla., by Mar- 

 tinez and Houde (1975). They found that two 

 modal groups of ova ripened during the spawning 

 season and that both modes apparently were 

 spawned. The relative fecundity estimate here dif- 

 fers slightly from their reported value because 

 they estimated it for female weights minus ovary 

 weights. To determine stock biomass, the best 



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