FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 82, NO. 1 



•i a n U iS rt *y Ca P e 



inlet . r 



Lookout 



©-Larimus fasciatus 

 collection sites 



34 



Cape Fear 



FIGURE 1. — Collection sites for Larimus fasciatus in North Carolina. 



blotted dry and weighed (gonad weight (GW)) to the 

 nearest 0.01 g. Gonad indices (GI) were calculated 

 as follows: 



GI = GW (both) X 100/(BW - GW) 



and were used to determine spawning seasons and 

 maturity. 



Fecundity was determined for both maturing 

 gonads by relating the number of eggs in a subsample 

 to the whole gonad. Each subsample (weighed to the 

 nearest 0.001 g), removed from the middle and both 

 ends of each alcohol-preserved gonad, represented 

 roughly 5% of the total gonad weight. All eggs 

 (excluding those <0.01 mm in diameter and atretic 

 eggs) in the subsample were counted, and the modal 

 ovum diameter was measured to the nearest 0.05 

 mm. Total fecundity used in the analysis equaled the 

 number of eggs in both gonads combined. 



RESULTS 

 Spawning 



Larimus fasciatus spawned from April through Sep- 

 tember with peak activity in August as indicated by 

 female gonad indices (n = 126, Fig. 2). Male gonad 

 indices (n = 53) somewhat mirrored the female pat- 

 tern, but the spawning cycle was not clearly illus- 

 trated because the testes composed a small per- 

 centage of the body weight at any maturity stage in all 

 months (Fig. 2). Some running ripe males were ob- 

 served in the field from June through August. Since 

 the mean gonad index was still high in September 

 (Fig. 2), spawning may have continued after Septem- 

 ber, although I have no collections to substantiate 

 this. 



The large size range of juveniles and the collection 

 of young-of-the-year <40 mm SL in all months ex- 



228 



