ROSS: REPRODUCTION OF BANDED DRUM 



Table 4. — Larimus fasciatus male/female sex ratios by season and size group from 

 North Carolina (September 1975-September 1976) with chi-square values from testing 

 a 1:1 ratio. 



'P < 05 



DISCUSSION 



The prolonged April-September spawning season 

 of L. fasciatus in this study is supported by the few 

 published references to its reproduction. From 

 analysis of larval occurrence in North Carolina, 

 Hildebrand and Cable (1934) proposed a May 

 through October spawning season. Powles (1980) 

 reported a May to October spawning in the South 

 Atlantic Bight also based on larval collections. Gun- 

 ter (1938) suggested April spawning for banded 

 drum in Louisiana. Standard and Chittenden (in 

 press) found two spawning peaks forL. fasciatus off 

 Texas, a minor one in the spring (April-June) and the 

 major one in the fall (September-November). They 

 did not find significant evidence of spawning in July 

 or August. 



My data suggested a prolonged spawning effort in 

 North Carolina beginning as early as April, peaking in 

 August, and possibly continuing after September. 

 This major departure from Standard and Chitten- 

 den's (in press) biomodel spawning was supported by 

 1) a steady increase in gonad indices with a single 

 August peak, 2) a single peak mode of ova diameters 

 of 0.48 mm from July through September, 3) con- 

 tinuous recruitment of young-of-the-year through 

 the summer and fall months, and 4) the collection of 

 larvae in all months except March (Powles 1980; K. 

 A. MacPherson footnote 4). Although it is fairly cer- 

 tain that spawning begins in April, at least for larger 

 fish, I did not determine if spawning continued into 

 October because samples of adults were lacking. 

 Although the September gonad index declined, 

 young-of-the-year recruitment in North Carolina in 

 February and larval collections in November, 

 December, January, and February (K. A. MacPher- 

 son footnote 4) indicated that spawning may last at 

 least through October. Protracted spawning is also 

 characteristic of many other Sciaenidae (Welsh and 

 Breder 1923; Thomas 1971; Merriner 1976; 

 Warlen 1980). 



Maturation at an early age is typical in sciaenids 

 (Schaefer 1965; Meriner 1976; Shlossman and Chit- 

 tenden 1981) and in short-lived fishes in general 

 which tend toward r strategy life histories (Adams 

 1980). Since L. fasciatus is a short-lived sciaenid, 

 rarely completing a fourth year, the small size (120 

 mm SL) at first maturity, attained shortly after reach- 

 ing 1 yr of age, is not surprising (Ross 1978). Larimus 

 fasciatus off of Texas apparently live only 2 yr and 

 consequently mature earlier (80 mm TL) than North 

 Carolina individuals (Standard and Chittenden in 

 press) . In addition to short life and early maturation, r 

 strategists' traits are rapid growth, high fecundity 

 (even at early ages), small maximum size, high mor- 

 tality, and low maximum age (Adams 1980), all of 

 which are related to emphasizing reproductive pro- 

 ductivity. Banded drum have all of these characteris- 

 tics as indicated in this study and by Ross (1978) and 

 Standard and Chittenden (in press). 



As banded drum became older their growth rate 

 slows (Ross 1978; Standard and Chittenden in 

 press), as is typical of most fishes, and they can 

 devote relatively more energy toward reproductive 

 activity than at earlier ages. Only the largest fe- 

 males (>150 mm) appeared to spawn as early as 

 April and continue spawning into September. 

 Although the phenomenon of older fish having a lon- 

 ger spawning season has not been reported in United 

 States east or gulf coasts sciaenids, it does occur in 

 other fishes (Quast 1968; Grimes and Huntsman 

 1980). 



Larimus fasciatus spawns as far north as Cape Hat- 

 teras. Although larvae have been collected off 

 Chesapeake Bay (Berrien et al. 1978), there are no 

 records of reproductively active adults north of Cape 

 Hatteras and this species is rare north of Chesapeake 

 Bay (Hildebrand and Schroeder 1928; Johnson 

 1978); therefore, Cape Hatteras is probably the 

 northern limit of banded drum reproduction. 

 Larimus fasciatus in spawning condition were most 

 often collected in the nearshore waters between 



233 



