464 



Fishery Bulletin 105(4) 



60 -| 

 40- 

 20 



n=60 

 Mean=4.5 mm 



B 



60-1 

 40 



20- 



1 



n=60 

 Mean=5.5 mm 



12- 

 8- 

 4- 



n=34 

 Mean=68.0 mm 



llu 



D 



2- 



n=23 

 Mean=95 9 mm 



u 



lillll 



ouioino^noiriotnoirioinou^o 



LT) in to CD 



Total lengtti (mm) 



OD CO Ol (J1 



O *- ■<- CN 



Figure 3 



Sizes (total length mm) of goosefish (Lophius americanus) during the first 

 year of life. (A) Size of goosefish at collection. All other sizes are based 

 on back-calculated sizes from lapillar otoliths. (B) Size at formation of 

 hatching check. (C) Size at absorption of yolk. (D) Size at settlement 

 check. (E) Size at formation of first annulus. 



relative body proportions as they approached or equaled 

 the juvenile-adult condition (Table 2). Most of these 

 changes occurred between 30 and 120 mm TL and were 

 especially prominent in individuals of 60-80 mm TL. 

 Settlement, as indicated by the length frequency of pe- 

 lagic and benthic individuals, occurred over a relatively 

 large range of sizes (Figs. 3 and 4). This interpretation 

 may have been influenced by gear biases, the seasonal 

 nature of the collections, and the ability of Lophius spp. 

 to re-enter the water column, as occurs for L. america- 

 nus (Bigelow and Schroeder, 1953) and L. piscatorius 

 (Hislop et al., 2000). The overlap in the magnitude of 

 the size range of pelagic and benthic specimens was 

 approximately 30-120 mm depending on the sampling 

 technique (Figs. 3 and 4). Most of the individuals larger 

 than 60 mm TL collected from May to November in the 

 pelagic zone were collected with a mid-water trawl. The 

 smallest benthic individuals (<60 mm TL) were collected 



in June, July, and August as incidental captures in scal- 

 lop dredges. Benthic individuals were also collected, at 

 low levels, from September to November. Together, these 

 observations suggest that settlement occurs at sizes of 

 30-83 mm TL and extends from June into November. 

 The two smallest settled individuals previously reported 

 were 64 and 76 mm (Connolly, 1921). Similarly small- 

 size settled individuals were reported for individuals of 

 L. piscatorius (Bowman, 1919). 



The growth of YOY goosefish appears to be fast com- 

 pared to that of other north temperate marine fishes. 

 Using size at capture, as well as estimates of age, size, 

 and life history event checks deduced from otoliths, we 

 estimated growth rates of 1.4 and 1.3 mm/day for the 

 pelagic and benthic YOY life stages, respectively. A 

 marginal increment analysis of lapilli indicated that the 

 first annulus forms at sizes of 70-119 (mean=95.8) mm 

 TL (Fig. 2). This estimate of size at first annulus forma- 



