DeMARTINI and FOUNTAIN: OVARIAN CYCLING FREQUENCY IN QUEENFISH 



occurs at dusk and has monthly peaks in intensity 

 during the week of the moon's first quarter. 



Annual egg production ranges from about 

 60,000 eggs to over 2.2 million eggs in the smallest 

 recruit spawner and the largest repeat spawner, 

 respectively. The average female produces about 

 300,000 eggs in a year. These estimates of annual 

 egg production are an order of magnitude greater 

 than usually would be inferred based on oocyte 

 size class frequencies. 



Relative fecundity of the queenfish is an in- 

 creasing function of body size. Larger females 

 produce larger eggs, and females of all adult sizes 

 produce larger eggs earlier in the season. 



As reflected by the general nature of its pro- 

 tracted, serial spawning activities and by the 

 timing of subseasonal variations in its egg size 

 and in the female size-to-egg size and egg number 

 relationships, the queenfish closely resembles 

 many or most small, planktonic spawners of warm 

 temperate regions. We suggest that the reproduc- 

 tive dynamics of the queenfish typify the suite of 

 reproductive adaptations characteristic of small, 

 short-lived fishes that must cope with irregular 

 (unpredictable) subseasonal variations in plank- 

 tonic productivity. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 



We thank T Baird and K. Kulzer for helping 

 estimate batch fecundities and F. Koehrn and 

 J. Nickel for assistance with histological prepara- 

 tions. Special thanks go to T. Moore for taking 

 the photographs in Figure 5 and to K. Harp and 

 J. Fox for typing drafts of the manuscript. We 

 also gratefully acknowledge the constructive criti- 

 cisms of J. Hunter and R. Larson on a preliminary 

 draft of the manuscript. This research was part of 

 a study of the population dynamics of queenfish 

 done for the Marine Review Committee of the 

 California Coastal Commission; we acknowledge 

 the financial and other support of Southern Cali- 

 fornia Edison Company, including the encourage- 

 ment of B. Mechalas and J. Palmer. 



LITERATURE CITED 



bagenal, t. b. 



1967. A short review of fish fecundity. In S. D. Gerking 

 (editor). The biological basis of freshwater fish produc- 

 tion, p. 89-111. Blackwell Sci. Publ., Oxf.. Engl. 



1971. The interrelation of the size of fish eggs, the date 

 of spawning and the production cycle. J. Fish Biol. 

 3:207-219. 



BAGENAL, T B., AND E. BRAUM. 



1971. Eggs and early life history. In W. E. Ricker (editor), 

 Methods for assessment offish production in fresh waters, 

 p. 166-198. IBP (Int. Biol. Programme) Handb. 3. 

 BLAXTER, J. H. S., AND G. HEMPEL. 



1963. The influence of egg size on herring larvae (Clupea 

 harengus L.). J. Cons. 28;211-240. 



Clark, E N. 



1925. The life history of Leuresthes tenuis, an atherine fish 



with tide controlled spawning habits. Calif Dep. Fish 



Game, Fish Bull. 10, 51 p. 

 1930. Size at first maturity of the white sea bass ( Cyno- 



scion nobilis). Calif. Fish Game 16:319-323. 

 1934. Maturity of the California sardine ( Sardina caeru- 



lea ), determined by ova diameter measurements. Calif. 



Dep. Fish Game, Fish Bull. 42, 49 p. 

 CONOVER, W. J. 



1971. Practical nonparametric statistics. Wiley, N.Y., 



462 p. 

 CUSHING, D. H. 



1975. Marine ecology and fisheries. Camb. Univ. Press, 



N.Y., 278 p. 

 DeMartini, E. E., and B. G. Patten. 



1979. Egg guarding and reproductive biology of the 

 red Irish lord, Hemilepidotus hemilepidotus (Tilesius). 

 Syesis 12:41-55. 

 DeSILVA, S. S. 



1973. Aspects of the reproductive biology of the sprat, 

 Sprattus sprattus (L.) in inshore waters of the west coast 

 of Scotland. J. Fish Biol. 5:689-705. 



Farris, D. a. 



1963. Reproductive periodicity in the sardine iSardinops 

 caerulea ) and the jack mackerel ( Trachurus symmetricus ) 

 on the Pacific coast of North America. Copeia 1963: 

 182-184. 



FEDER, H. M., C. L. TURNER, AND C. LIMBAUGH. 



1974. Observations on fishes associated with kelp beds in 

 southern California. Calif. Dep. Fish Game, Fish Bull. 

 160, 144 p. 



FITCH, J. E., AND R. J. LAVENBERG. 



1971. Marine food and game fishes of California. Univ. 

 Calif. Press, Berkeley, 179 p. 



1975. Tidepool and nearshore fishes of California. Univ. 

 Calif Press, Berkeley, 156 p. 



FREY, H. W. 



1971. California's hving marine resources and their utili- 

 zation. Calif. Dep. Fish Game, Mar. Res. Agency, 148 p. 



GOLDBERG, S. R. 



1976. Seasonal spawning cycles of the sciaenid fishes 

 Genyonemus lineatus and Seriphus politus. Fish. Bull., 

 U.S. 74:983-984. 



HICKLING, C. F, AND E. RUTENBERG. 



1936. The ovary as an indicator of the spawning period in 

 fishes. J. Mar. Biol. Assoc. U.K. 2L311-316. 

 HIGHAM, J. R., AND W. R. NICHOLSON. 



1964. Sexual maturation and spawning of Atlantic men- 

 haden. Fish. Bull., U.S. 63:255-271. 



HTUN-HAN, M. 



1978. The reproductive biology of the dab Limanda 

 limanda (L.) in the North Sea: seasonal changes in the 

 ovary J. Fish Biol. 13:351-359. 

 HUBBS, C. 



1976. The diel reproductive pattern and fecundity of 

 Menidia audens. Copeia 1976:386-388. 



559 



