Abstract. - Batch fecundity, 

 weight-specific fecundity (number of 

 eggs per gram somatic weight), size 

 of ripe ovarian eggs, and the somatic 

 and gonadal conditions of adult fe- 

 male queenfish Seriphus politus were 

 estimated for five spawning seasons 

 during an 8-year (1979-86) period. 

 The effects of female somatic weight 

 were evaluated in analyses of covari- 

 ance comparing batch fecundity, egg 

 size, and gonadal condition among 

 years. 



Batch fecundity was positively 

 (and allometrically) related to female 

 somatic weight. Fecundities were 

 remarkably similar during four of the 

 five years evaluated. After adjust- 

 ment for annual differences in fe- 

 male size, fecundities were still sig- 

 nificantly lower (by about one-fifth) 

 during 1984, a major El Nino year, 

 compared with the preceding (1979- 

 80) or following (1985-86) pairs of 

 years. Gonadal condition also was 

 uniquely low in 1984. The 1984 de- 

 clines in fecundity and gonadal con- 

 dition co-occurred with low somatic 

 condition during 1984, particularly 

 for larger females. Mean size (diam- 

 eter, dry weight) of eggs was indis- 

 tinguishable among years. There was 

 a positive relation between egg size 

 and female body size, and a general 

 decline in egg size as the spawning 

 season advanced for females of all 

 sizes. 



Likely links between declines in 

 fecundity, gonadal and somatic con- 

 dition, and the crash in planktonic 

 production during the 1982-84 El 

 Nino are discussed. 



Annual Variations in 

 Fecundity, Egg Size, and the 

 Gonadal and Somatic Conditions 

 of Queenfish Seriphus politus 

 (Sciaenidae) 



Edward E. DeMartini 



Honolulu Laboratory, Southwest Fisheries Science Center 



National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA 



2570 Dole Street, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822-2396 



Manuscript accepted 24 August 1990. 

 Fishery Bulletin, U.S. 89:9-18 (1991). 



Few data exist on annual variations 

 in reproductive traits (fecundity, egg 

 size, gonadal allocation) of marine 

 fishes. At a minimum, however, such 

 data are necessary if fisheries ecol- 

 ogists are to begin to understand the 

 many processes, including the vagaries 

 of planktonic transport, that influ- 

 ence the large annual and longer- 

 term temporal fluctuations in the 

 recruitment and subsequent year- 

 class abundance of marine fish stocks 

 (Sinclair 1988, Bailey and Almatar 

 1989). The influences of egg size and 

 quality on the early growth and sur- 

 vivorship of most species are poorly 

 understood (Ware 1975). 



The queenfish Seriphus -politus is 

 a small croaker abundant in the inner- 

 shelf waters off southern California. 

 It has planktonic egg and larval 

 stages prior to the recruitment of 

 juveniles to epibenthic habitat. In- 

 dividual females are indeterminate 

 serial spawners that produce as many 

 as 20 batches of eggs during a pro- 

 tracted (6-month) spawning season 

 (DeMartini and Fountain 1981). Juve- 

 nile and small adult, including male, 

 queenfish feed on zooplankton (cope- 

 pods and mysids), and large adults, 

 females in particular, specialize on 

 juveniles of the northern anchovy 

 Engraulis mordax (DeMartini et al. 

 1985). 



In this paper, I present data on 

 batch and relative (weight-specific) 

 fecundities, egg size, and the gonadal 



and somatic conditions of adult fe- 

 male queenfish collected during five 

 spawning seasons spanning an 8-year 

 period from 1979 to 1986. Fecundity, 

 egg size, and condition indices are 

 compared among years and related 

 to concurrent variations in female 

 body size. Because data are available 

 prior to, during, and immediately 

 following a major El Nino event, I 

 interpret my observations in terms 

 of known interannual variations in 

 planktonic production and potential 

 food limitation. 



Methods 



Sample collection 



Queenfish were collected during the 

 March- August reproductive seasons 

 (DeMartini and Fountain 1981) of 

 1979, 1980, 1984, 1985, and 1986. 

 Nighttime (2000-0200 hours), bi- 

 weekly to fortnightly collections with 

 a lampara seine, made at 5-16 m bot- 

 tom depths at three longshore loca- 

 tions in San Onofre-Oceanside waters 

 (DeMartini et al. 1985), were used to 

 index the abundance and to describe 

 the size (length, weight) composition 

 of the nearshore queenfish stock. 

 Sample fish for gonad analyses were 

 provided by daytime lampara seining, 

 otter trawling, and gillnetting at 

 <16-m depths in the same area, and 

 by screenwell samplings of the San 

 Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, 



