FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 80, NO. 3 



Figure 1.— Location of sampling areas 

 with transect indicating stations occu- 

 pied off Freeport, Tex. 



5 10 15 20 25 



NAUTCAL MLES 



lin, 6 and later preserved in 70% ethanol. For the Table l.— Description of gonad maturity stages assigned to 



Stenotomus caprinus. 



period October 1978 to March 1980, 300 fish each 

 month were selected by stratified random sam- 

 pling to determine total length (TL), fork length 

 (FL), standard length (SL), girth (G) at the 

 fourth dorsal spine, total weight(TW), and ovary 

 maturity stage and to take scale samples, except 

 that only total weight, total length, sex, gonad 

 weight, and ovary maturity stage were deter- 

 mined from October 1979 to March 1980. Female 

 and immature fish were assigned gonad matur- 

 ity stages (Table 1) similar to Kesteven's system 

 (Bagenal and Braum 1971). Scales were taken 

 below the lateral line near the tip of the pectoral 

 fin following procedures for S. chrysops (Dery 

 and Rearden 7 ), and cellulose acetate impressions 

 were examined using a scale projector. 



Supplemental collections were made aboard 

 the FRS Oregon II (NMFS) from 10 April to 1 

 May 1980 in the north central Gulf at depths of 

 9-91 m between long. 91°31' and 92°00'W (Rohr 

 et al. 8 ). Stenotomus caprinus were selected from 



Reference to trade names does not imply endorsement by 

 the National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA. 



7 Dery, L., and C. Reardon. 1979. Report of the State-Fed- 

 eral scup (Stenotomus chrysops) age and growth workshop. 

 Woods Hole Lab. Ref . 79-57, 10 p. Northeast Fisheries Center 

 Woods Hole Laboratory, National Marine Fisheries Service, 

 NOAA, Woods Hole, MA 02543. 



»Rohr, B. A., A J. Kemmerer, and W. H. Fox, Jr. 1980. 

 FRS Oregon II Cruise 106 4/10-5/1/80. Cruise Report, 12 p. 

 Southeast Fisheries Center Pascagoula Laboratory, National 

 Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, P.O. Drawer 1207, Pasca- 

 goula, MS 39567. 



Stage 



Description 



Immature 

 Maturing virgin 

 Early developing 



4 Late developing 



5 Gravid 



6 Ripe 



7 Spent/resting 



Gonads barely or not visible. 



Gonads very small, sexes not distinguishable. 



Sexes distinguishable but individual eggs are 



not visible. 

 Eggs opaque, ovaries extending along <90% of 



gut cavity. 

 Ovaries extend along 90% or more of lateral wall 



of gut cavity, < 50% of eggs translucent. 

 Ovaries extend 90% or more of lateral wall of gut 



cavity, >50% of eggs translucent. 

 Ovaries barely extend along lateral wall of gut 



cavity, flaccid with few small eggs. Similar in 



appearance to Stage 3, but occurs in fish large 



enough to have already spawned. 



the catch without randomization procedures and 

 measured in fork length. 



Year class identities were indicated by speci- 

 fying the years in which the fish hatched. Age 

 was determined by analysis of length frequen- 

 cies, e.g., the Petersen method (Lagler 1956; 

 Tesch 1971). The superior merits of this proce- 

 dure for S. caprinus are noted in the section on 

 Age Determination Using Scales. Size descrip- 

 tions for each year class and each cruise (Table 

 2, Fig. 2) were based on major portions of fre- 

 quency distributions cited. Boundaries between 

 groups are indicated in Table 2 and Figure 

 2; mortality and growth calculations were based 

 on groups defined by these boundaries. Arithme- 

 tic means were used to describe central tenden- 

 cies for each year class and each cruise because 

 length frequencies within year classes were 



524 



