159 



Abstract — Blacktail comber iSer- 

 ranus atricauda Gunther) is a com- 

 mercially important species in the 

 Canary Islands fisheries. A total of 

 425 individuals were collected and 

 histological techniques were used to 

 investigate the reproductive data. 

 Results indicated that the spawning 

 season occurred throughout the year, 

 peaking between March and July. 

 Individuals reached 50'^'v maturity 

 at 19.3 cm TL and 95'~, at 33.1 cm 

 TL. Batch fecundity estimates ranged 

 from 21,774 to 369,578 oocytes per 

 spawning event for specimens from 

 22.2 to 39.8 cm TL. Blacktail comber 

 was estimated to spawn 42 times/year 

 and 26. 5^^^ of individuals spawned, on 

 average, every 3.8 days. Estimates 

 of potential annual fecundity for the 

 species ranged from 0.91 to 15.5 mil- 

 lion oocytes, and an average of 5.1 

 ±4.1 million. 



Spawning season, maturity sizes, 

 and fecundity in blacktail comber 

 iSerranus atricauda) (Serranidae) 

 from the eastern-central Atlantic 



Mercedes Garcia-Diaz 



Jose A. Gonzalez 



Institute Canarlo de Clencias Marinas 

 Departamento de Blologia Pesquera 

 PO Box 56. E-35200 

 Telde (Las Palmas), Spam 



Maria J. Lorente 



Departamento de Biologia Animal (U Morfologia Microscopica) 



Universidad de Valencia 



Moliner 50 



Buriassot (Valencia), Spain 



Victor M. Tuset 



Institute Canarie de Ciencias Marinas 



Departamento de Bielegia Pesquera 



PO Bex 56, E-35200 



Telde (Las Palmas), Spam 



E-mail address (fer V M Tuset, contact author); vlcterta@iccm.rcanaria.es 



Present address (fer V M Tuset) Institute Canane de Ciencias Mannas 



PO Box 56, E-35200 Telde 



Las Palmas, Spain 



Manuscript submitted 20 November 2003 

 to the Scientific Editor's Office. 



Manuscript approved for publication 

 23 June 2005 by the Scientific Editor. 



Fish. Bull. 104:159-166 (2006). 



Fish of the genus Serranus are syn- 

 chronous hermaphrodites; male and 

 female tissues are simultaneously 

 functional (Smith, 1965). The most 

 common style of reproduction is serial 

 monogamy, in which individuals are 

 solitary during the day before pair- 

 ing up and spawning in the late 

 afternoon (Fischer, 1986). During 

 spawning one fish in each pair func- 

 tions as a male and the other as a 

 female and cross-fertilization occurs. 

 This special characteristic, and the 

 possibility of self-fertilization, have 

 encouraged detailed studies of the 

 gonad structure of the genus Serranus 

 (Atz, 1965; Fishelson, 1970; Reinboth, 

 1970; Febvre et al., 1975; Zanuy, 1977; 

 Brusle, 1983; Abd-el-Aziz and Rama- 

 dan, 1990; Garci'a-Diaz et al., 1997, 

 2002), although knowledge of other 

 reproductive features is scarce. 



Models of dynamic population used 

 in the management of fishery re- 

 sources and in biological studies of 



fish require knowledge of the repro- 

 ductive system (Koslow et al., 1995). 

 This includes gonad morphology (ex- 

 ternal and cellular description of the 

 ovary and testis), reproductive pat- 

 tern (hermaphoditism or gonocorism), 

 reproductive behavior, reproductive 

 cycle, spawning season duration, size 

 at maturity, sex ratio, size at sexual 

 transition, and fecundity. Of all these 

 reproductive features, fecundity is the 

 most difficult biological parameter to 

 obtain, although it is of interest to 

 fishery scientists both as a critical pa- 

 rameter for stock assessments based 

 on egg production methods and as a 

 basic aspect of fish biology and popu- 

 lation dynamics. To calculate fecun- 

 dity, fish are divided into determinate 

 and indeterminate spawners (Hunter 

 and Macewicz, 1985a; Hunter et al., 

 1992). With indeterminate spawners, 

 multiple or serial batches are noted, 

 and spawning may take place many 

 times during a protracted spawning 



