834 



Fishery Bulletin 97(4), 1999 



0.480 for the recreational fishery and 0.489 for the 

 commercial fishery. 



Reproduction 



Our sample contained no immature males and only 

 23 immature female vermilion snapper. Testes either 



contained tailed sperm, suggesting the potential 

 for spawning, or contained brown bodies, suggest- 

 ing previous spawning. The smallest male exam- 

 ined was 199 mm TL; therefore males must reach 

 maturity at a smaller size than do females. For 

 females, 80% were sexually mature at age 1, and 

 100*^ were sexually mature by age 7. More than 

 909^ of the females were mature at 200 mm TL, 

 and lOO'/f were mature at 325 mm TL. 



Vermilion snappers in the eastern GOM spawn 

 from May to September. Ripe females were ob- 

 served during this time period (with the excep- 

 tion of June) (Fig. 6). These fish contained late- 

 stage vitellogenic oocytes, hydrated oocytes, and 

 postovulatory follicles (Fig. 7). Through the rest 

 of the year, there was a progression from mostly 

 resting ovaries during October to mostly early 

 developing ovaries during December. Ripe males 

 were observed throughout the year; they were 

 most common (>60'^^ of testes) from March to 

 September and in January (Fig. 6). For both 

 sexes, median GSIs were low from October to 

 April (<0.01 for females and <0.005 for males. Fig. 

 8). In May, GSIs increased dramatically (medians 

 equaled 0.034 for females and 0.020 for males) and then 

 gradually decreased through September. 



Vermilion snapper batch fecundities ranged from 

 553.5 to 86,811 oocytes from fish measuring 210-298 

 mm TL (7!=27). The relationship between batch fe- 

 cundity and length was batch fecundity = 317 x 

 (whole weight) - 3.1624 x 10^ r~=0.55. 



