LOVE ET AL.: LIFE HISTORY AND FISHERY OF WHITE CROAKER 



Fliti'RE 1.— Location of white croaker 

 sampling sites. 



^C^>> 



100km 



year. A gonadosomatic index (gonad weight)/(total 

 body weight) X 100 was computed from frozen 

 specimens to quantify changes in gonad size with 

 season. Ovaries for use in fecundity studies were 

 fixed in modified Gilson's fluid (Bagenal and Braum 

 1971) for 4-8 mo. We measured fixed egg diameters 

 from 11 individuals, all of which contained some hy- 

 drated eggs. Batch fecundity was estimated by the 

 gravimetric method of Bagenal and Braum (1971). 

 The time between spawning events per female was 

 computed by estimating the percent of females with 

 hydrated eggs on any given night during the spawning 

 season. 

 We computed condition factor 1UU (W u W) , 



L 3 

 where W = body weight in grams, GW — gonad 

 weight in grams, and L = total length in centime- 

 ters — of mature southern California and Monterey 

 croaker. Condition factor was computed using body 



weight with gonad weight subtracted to mini- 

 mize the effects of seasonal changes in gonad size. 



Larval Sampling 



Ichthyoplankton data presented here were collect- 

 ed monthly between August 1979 and July 1980 

 along 20 sites within the Southern California Bight 

 aboard the RV Seawatch (Table 2). Stations were 

 established at 8 and 22 m along each transect (with 

 exception of Palos Verdes and Laguna Beach where 

 15 m was substituted for 8 m). Additional stations at 

 15 and 36 m depths were maintained at three sites 

 (Ormond Beach, Redondo Beach, San Onofre). Oblique 

 bongo tows from the bottom to the surface were made 

 at all stations. A 70 cm diameter bongo net sampler 

 (McGowan and Brown 1966), equipped with wheels 

 to prevent damage when the sampler encountered 

 the bottom, was lowered to the bottom with canvas 



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