FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 75, NO. 1 



slopes. Ripe males were not found at depths grea- 

 ter than 550 m (Figures 5, 6, 7). Since few ripe fish 

 were caught by bottom trawls, it is possible that 

 spawning occurs at some distance above the 

 bottom. First time spawners appear to move down 

 slope to spawn whereas the older maturing 

 females (spawning for their second or more times) 

 were found lower on the slope and moved up the 

 slope into the spawning area. 



Few spent males or females were taken during 

 this study. Spent females may move down the 

 slope from the spawning area to recover and then 

 gradually move back up the slope to enter a rest- 

 ing stage. Alternatively, after spawning they 

 might immediately move onto the upper slope in 

 depths of 180 to 360 m to feed and recover, and 

 finally move back into depths greater than 360 m 

 to enter the resting stage. 



30 



10 



obzflm 



□ 



MALES 

 FEMALES 

 JUVENILES 

 N=636 



280 



370 



460 550 

 METERS 



640 



730 



FIGURE 5. — Distribution of male, female, and juvenile Merluc- 

 cius albidus by depth on the east Mississippi Delta and west De 

 Soto Canyon slope in October 1971. 



MALES 

 N=89 



20- 



10- 

 



g 50 H 



E 



£ 40 



30 



20 



10 

 



o 



10 

 



30- 



20 



10 

 



10 

 



10 

 



FEMALES 

 N=389 

 STAGES 2-3 



STAGE 5 



| \wy ^ y ■.■. «j 



STAGE 6 



pr^p^ 



280 



460 640 



METERS 



280 



460 640 



METERS 



FIGURE 6. — Gonad maturation stages of Merluccius albidus by 

 depth on the west Florida-De Soto Canyon slope in June 1971. 



152 



20- 



10- 

 



MALES N=II0 



STAGES 2-3 



rr-rv NSN^fSSS)- 



"T 



T 



STAGE 4 



280 



460 640 



METERS 



280 



460 640 



METERS 



FIGURE 7. — Gonad maturation stages of Merluccius albidus by 

 depth on the east Mississippi Delta and west De Soto Canyon 

 slopes in October 1971. 



European, Argentinean, and Pacific hake are 

 reported to feed ravenously after spawning. If M. 

 albidus follows this pattern, it would probably 

 move up to the shelf edge following spawning, as a 

 richer supply of food is available in this area. 

 Additional deepwater samples are needed before 

 this hypothesis can be tested. 



Spawning males and females were found to- 

 gether at depths of 330 to 460 m but only one spent 

 male and female were caught in the same tow. 



Merluccius albidus may spawn later in the 

 Caribbean than in the Gulf of Mexico. In 

 November 1970, 11 of 21 females collected off 

 Aruba in 604 m were in spawning condition. Spent 

 females were also found in November 1970 in 

 depths of 550 to 730 m off Colombia. The depth 

 distribution of females in the Caribbean appears 

 to be similar to that in the Gulf of Mexico; but data 

 are very limited. Only one male was collected from 

 the Caribbean. 



Merluccius albidus are also distributed on the 

 slope in relation to gonad maturation stages. 

 Eighty-eight percent of the juveniles occurred in 

 370 to 460 m. They were observed at other times 

 and at other geographic sites in the Gulf of Mexico 

 and Caribbean Sea, but always on the upper slope 

 between 180 and 460 m. It is possible that the 

 distribution of juveniles seen in October is similar 

 to their overall distributional pattern. 



The distribution of gonad stages of male and 

 female M . albidus on the Mississippi Delta and De 

 Soto Canyon slopes in 1971 are shown in Figures 6 

 and 7. Males were found primarily on the upper 



