264 



Fishery Bulletin 103(2) 



CO 



o 



6 



5 



4 



3 + 



2 



1 



Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec 



Female 



i f 



— i 1 — i 1 1 1 — i 1 1 1 — i 1 



Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec 



Month 



Figure 5 



Seasonal variation of the standard deviation in the gonadosomatic index (GSI) 

 and mean values (•) for male and female carpenter (Argyrozona argyrozona) 

 sampled in the Tsitsikamma National Park. 



ever strongly correlated (/-=0.86) with photoperiod but 

 exhibited a weak negatively relationship with seasonal 

 temperature (Fig. 10). 



Discussion 



Late gonochorism, protandry, protogyny, and hermaphro- 

 ditism are the recognized reproductive styles of sparids 

 (Smale, 1988; Buxton and Garratt, 1990). Although 

 carpenter were previously described as gonochoristic 

 (Nepgen, 1977), microscopic examination of the gonads 

 revealed that they are late gonochorists. The sex ratio 

 calculated during this study (1 female:1.3 male) was 

 typical for those observed for other late gonochorists 

 (Griffiths et al., 2002). 



Upon reviewing 90 species of reef fish, Sadovy (1996) 

 concluded that although GSIs reflect the gonad maturity 

 patterns for a species, they are poor indicators of peak 

 spawning times. By way of example, in red hind grouper 

 (Epmephelis guttatus) yolked oocytes are present in the 

 ovaries for four months of the year but actual spawning 



Table 3 



Spawning frequency (averaged over all months) and 

 length of the spawning season calculated from the pres- 

 ence of stage-1 POFs in carpenter (Argyrozona argyro- 

 zona) ovaries in three size classes. 



Size class 

 (mml 



Average 



spawning frequency 



( days ) 



Spawning 

 season 



(months) 



250-339 

 340-479 

 480+ 



9 

 4 

 3.9 



is limited to a period of 10 days (Sadovy, 1996). In the 

 case of carpenter, however, the presence of POFs from 

 November to April supports the six-month spawning 

 season indicated by macroscopic methods (although 

 in some larger individuals [>480 mm FL] hydrated 



