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



30 



25 



5 

 U 



a 



H 



O 



20 



15 - 



10 



FEMALES 



MALES 



10 



11 



12 



AGE (YEARS) 



FIGURE 3. — Von Bertalanffy growth curves of female and male white croaker. Also 

 included are mean lengths at ages (females-circles, males-triangles) computed from 

 direct observation of otolith annuli. Based on 332 females and 250 males taken off 

 southern California, 1977-81. 



ual dimorphism was observed off Monterey. Both 

 males and females off Monterey were more robust 

 than their southern California counterparts (Table 

 5). 



Maturation and Reproduction 



Although a few white croaker matured before 1 yr 

 (12.9-13.4 cm TL), over 50% of the males were 

 mature by 14 cm TL and over 50% of the females by 

 about 15 cm TL, which equals an age of 1 yr (Fig. 6). 

 All fish were mature by 19 cm TL (3-4 yr). 



Larger females (greater than about 1 7 cm TL and 1 - 

 2+ yr) spawned earlier in the year and continued to 

 spawn later than smaller and younger individuals 



(Table 6). The smallest spawning females may spawn 

 for 3-4 mo whereas larger individuals may spawn for 

 as long as 7 mo. 



Off Long Beach, white croaker spawned primarily 

 from November through April, with January through 

 March the peak months, based on the occurrence of 

 hydrated eggs within ovaries. A few individuals (> 18 

 cm TL) spawned from May through October. Ovaries 

 increased in size in the fall and peaked in January, 

 when they averaged 4.67c of body weight (maximum 

 11.8%, minimum 0.8%). Thereafter, ovarian size 

 declined in summer to a minimum of about 1.0% of 

 body weight (maximum 1.3%, minimum 0.07%) and 

 remained constant through August (Fig. 7). 



Similarly, testes were small during summer months 



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