COURTSHIP AND SPAWNING BEHAVIOR OF 



THE TAUTOG, TAUTOGA ONITIS (PISCES: LABRIDAE), 



UNDER LABORATORY CONDITIONS 1 



Bori L. Oli.a and Carol Samet 2 



ABSTRACT 



Courtship and spawning behavior of the tautog, Tautoga onitis, were observed under controlled 

 laboratory conditions. Two separate groups of tautog, consisting of two males and one female, were 

 each studied over an entire spawning season. The larger male of each group was dominant over the 

 other two animals. This dominance was expressed during the spawning season by intensified aggres- 

 sion towards the subordinate male. The dominant male of each group, once reaching seasonal reproduc- 

 tive readiness, was the primary spawning partner of the female. Prior to the onset of spawning, a rapid 

 approach of the dominant, formerly a component of an aggressive chase, functioned as a courtship 

 behavior directed at the female. Each day the female exhibited dynamic and transient shading changes 

 which became maximally developed as the time of each spawning approached in the afternoon. Actual 

 gamete release, which took place each day following 6 to 8 h of courtship, occurred as the dominant 

 male and the female moved upwards in synchrony and spawned near or at the surface. The significance 

 of courtship and spawning in tautog is discussed and compared with reproductive behavior in other 

 labrids. 



The tautog, Tautoga onitis, a member of the fam- 

 ily Labridae, occurs along the coastal regions of 

 North America, ranging from South Carolina to 

 Nova Scotia (Bigelow and Schroeder 1953). As 

 with labrids in general, the fish are found as- 

 sociated with shelter or cover, a habit primarily 

 related to the animals' requiring protection espe- 

 cially during nighttime, when they are quiescent 

 (Olla et al. 1974). 



According to previously published accounts, 

 tautog are long-lived, reaching a maximum age of 

 at least 34 yr (Cooper 1965) and becoming sexually 

 mature at 3 to4yrofage(Chenoweth 1963; Cooper 

 1965; Briggs in press). The adults move offshore in 

 the late fall to overwinter, a pattern established in 

 field studies off Rhode Island (Cooper 1966) and off 

 Long Island, N.Y. (Olla et al. 1974; Briggs in 

 press). In contrast to the adults, the young remain 

 inshore, spending the winter in a torpid condition 

 (Olla et al. 1974). 



Although a portion of the adult population re- 

 mains offshore throughout the year in deep water 

 ( e.g., sports divers report finding tautog at offshore 

 shipwrecks throughout the year), the remainder of 



•This work was supported in part by a grant from the U.S. 

 Energy Research and Development Administration, No. E (49-7 ) 

 3045. 



2 Middle Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Center, National Marine 

 Fisheries Service, NOAA, Highlands, NJ 07732. 



Manuscript accepted January 1977. 

 FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 75. NO 3. 1977 



the population moves inshore in late spring. Peak 

 spawning activity occurs primarily in May and 

 June (Chenoweth 1963; Cooper 1966). 



From May through October adults are com- 

 monly found, especially in the midportion of their 

 range, wherever there is appropriate cover and 

 food supply. They are frequently seen by divers 

 and are easily disturbed by such intrusions. The 

 fish's reaction to divers may account for the fact 

 that spawning in the natural environment has not 

 been described. Spawning has also not been de- 

 scribed under laboratory conditions. Until now the 

 only mention of any components of a possible 

 courtship repertoire has been by Bridges and 

 Fahay (1968). These authors introduced a ripe 

 male and female into a small laboratory aquarium 

 in early June and observed transient changes in 

 the pigmentation pattern of the female, assumed 

 to reflect a reproductive predisposition. However, 

 no actual gamete release was seen. 



Courtship and spawning behavior in labrids has 

 been observed in a number of species both under 

 natural and laboratory conditions. Both paired 

 and aggregate spawning occurs within the family. 

 Species which have been observed to be primarily 

 pair spawners include Crenilabrus melops (Potts 

 1974); Halichoeres bivittatus, H. garnoti, H. 

 maculipinna, and H. radiatus (Randall and Ran- 

 dall 1963); Labroides dimidiatus (Robertson and 



585 



