OVARIAN CYCLING FREQUENCY AND BATCH FECUNDITY 



IN THE QUEENFISH, SERIPHUS POLITUS: ATTRIBUTES 



REPRESENTATIVE OF SERIAL SPAWNING FISHES 



E. E. DeMartini and Robert K. Fountain' 



ABSTRACT 



Egg production by Seriphus politus near San Diego in southern California was studied during 

 1978-79. Spawning frequency was estimated on the basis of incidence of females with hydrated 

 eggs. Estimates of annual egg production were an order of magnitude greater than estimates 

 based on conventional methods. 



Seriphus politus spawns during March- August, and females mature at 10.0-10.5 cm standard length 

 in their first spring or second summer following birth. Planktonic eggs are spawned between late 

 afternoon and early evening. Spawning is asynchronous among females, but has monthly peaks in 

 intensity during the waxing (first quarter) of the moon. Fecundity is proportional to size and is better 

 correlated with weight than with length of female. Individuals spawn once a week on average, 

 regardless of body size. Larger females begin spawning earlier in the season and continue spawning 

 after the smallest females have ceased. Recruit spawners and the largest repeat spawners produce 

 about 12 to 24 batches of eggs during their respective spawning seasons. The average-sized female 

 spawns about 300,000 eggs in a year. Relative fecundity is an increasing function of body size. Larger 

 females produce larger eggs, and all females produce larger eggs earlier in the season. Implications 

 of these life-history attributes are discussed. 



The croakers (family Sciaenidae) are a major 

 component of the nearshore fish fauna of southern 

 California (Frey 1971), yet little is known about 

 their fecundity patterns or other details of their 

 reproductive biology (Skogsberg 1939). Seven spe- 

 cies of croakers occur off southern California 

 (Miller and Lea 1972). General information on 

 breeding seasonality and size at sexual maturity 

 exists for white seabass, Atractoscion nobilis 

 (Clark 1930); black croaker, Cheilotrema satur- 

 num (Limbaugh 1961; Fitch and Lavenberg 1975); 

 California corbina, Menticirrhus undulatus (Fitch 

 and Lavenberg 1971; Frey 1971); and spotfin croak- 

 er, Roncador stearnsi (Frey 1971). The general 

 seasonal nature of spawning is known for yellow- 

 fin croaker, Umbrina roncador (Frey 1971). Addi- 

 tional data on ovarian cycling exist only for white 

 croaker, Genyonemus lineatus, and for queenfish, 

 Seriphus politus (Goldberg 1976). 



The queenfish is an abundant, small species 

 that is a major component of the sport fish catch on 

 piers in southern California (Frey 1971); the spe- 



' Marine Science Institute, University of California, Santa 

 Barbara, CA 93106. 



cies moreover provides forage for several fishes 

 important to the sport and commercial fisheries in 

 the area (Young 1963; Feder et al. 1974). It is the 

 purpose of this paper to document the fecundity 

 and ovarian cycling patterns of queenfish and to 

 relate these results to what we feel are some 

 general reproductive characteristics of serial 

 spawning fishes. 



MATERIALS AND METHODS 



Field Sampling 



Fish were sampled at nearshore (5-20 m) depths, 

 0.5-3 km from shore, between San Clemente and 

 Oceanside, Calif. (Figure 1), using a lampara net 

 (560 m long x 25 m deep, mesh: 15 cm in wings to 

 1.25 cm in center bag), fished surface-to-bottom by 

 a commercial vessel. Fish were caught at standard 

 times of day (1-6 h after dawn) and night (1-6 h 

 after sunset) on surveys conducted at fortnightly 

 (September 1978-February 1979; September 1979) 

 or weekly (March- August 1979) intervals. Six 

 daytime and five nighttime net hauls were made 

 each survey. 



Manuscript accepted December 1980. 

 FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 79, NO. 3, 1981. 



547 



