448 



FISHERY BULLETIN OF THE FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



SUMMARY 



1 . Ovarian ovum counts and diameter measure- 

 ments are presented for 13 samples of sardines con- 

 taining 587 females taken by the San Pedro 

 commercial fishery during the period November 

 10, 1945 to February 27, 1946. 



2. Throughout the size range of fish studied 

 there are no significant differences among the 

 regression lines of fecunditj' expressed as the 

 number of ova in the most advanced group of 

 yolked ova on length, on length squared, or on 

 length cubed. 



3. The estimated number of ovarian ova 

 present in the most advanced group of yolked ova 

 in a sardine 200 millimeters in length is 26.8 

 thousands (using the formula Y=a-\-bX). The 

 rate of increase or decrease in estimated numbers 

 of ova is 5.14 thousands per increase or decrease of 

 10 millimeters of length. There is considerable 

 variation in the number of ova produced by in- 

 dividual fish at any given length. The standard 

 error of estimate of y is 8.76 thousands of ova for 

 the above formula. 



4. The correlation between fecundity and fish 

 weight is better than that between fecundity and 

 fish length. The number of ova present in the 

 most advanced group of yolked ovarian ova equals 

 263 ova per gram weight of sardine. 



5. Both the fecundity-length and fecundity- 

 weight correlations are better than the fecundity- 

 age correlation. 



6. No conclusions can be drawn from the 

 material used in this study regarding the number 

 of groups of ova that a sardine will spawn in one 

 spawning season. The evidence presented in the 

 literature by various authors is inconclusive and 

 then- conclusions are contradictory. 



7. All fish two or more years old and all fish 

 more than 175 mm. in length from the February 

 21 and 27 samples contained yolked ovarian ova 

 (0.22 mm. or larger in diameter) ; 28 percent of the 

 one-year-old fish and 31 percent of those less than 

 175 mm. in length also contained yolked ovarian 

 ova. None of the fish in these latter groups con- 

 tained ova greater than 0.40 mm. in diameter, 

 while 91 percent of the two-year-old and older fish 

 and 96 percent of the fish greater than 175 mm. in 

 length contained ova greater than 0.40 mm. in 

 diameter. The stage of ovarian lievelopment of 



the one-year-old sardines less than 175 mm. in 

 length on February 21 and 27 was much like that 

 found in the older and larger fish taken about 3 

 months earlier (on November 10 and 13, 1945). 



LITERATURE CITED 



.\hlstrom, Elbert H. 



1950. Influence of temperature on the rate of de- 

 velopment of pilchard eggs in nature. U. S. 

 Dept. Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Spec. 

 Sci. Rept.: Fisheries No. 15, pp. 132-167. 



1954. Distril^ution and abundance of egf^ and larval 

 populations of the Pacific sardine. U. S. Dept. 

 Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Fishery Bull. 

 93, vol. 50, pp. 83-140. 

 .Andreu, Buenaventur.\. 



1951. Consideraciones sobre el comportamiento del 

 Ovario de sardina (Sardina pilchardns Wall?.) 

 en relacion con el proceso de meduracion y de 

 freza. Boletin del Instituto Espanol de Ocean- 

 ografia. No. 41, 16 pp. 



Cl.\rk, Frances N. 



1925. The life history of Leuresthes tenuis, an 

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 California Division of Fish and Game, Fisli Bul- 

 letin No. 10, 51 pp. 



1928. The weight-length relationship of the Cali- 

 fornia sardine (Sardina caerulea) at San Pedro. 

 California Division of Fish and Game, Fish 

 Bulletin No. 12, 58 pp. 



1934. Maturity of the California sardine {Sardina 

 caendea), determined by ova diameter measure- 

 ments. California Division of Fish and Game, 

 Fish Bull. No. 42. 49 pp. 

 Phaser, C. McLean. 



1922. The Pacific herring. Contriijutions to Cana- 

 dian Biology, No. VI, pp. 103-111. 

 Hart, J. L., and .1. L. McHiTnii. 



1944. The smelts (Osmeridae) of British Columl)ia. 

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 27 pp. 



HlCKLIVG, C. F. 



1930. The natural history of the hake. Part III: 

 Seasonal changes in the condition of the hake. 

 England. Min. Agri. Fish., Fish Invest., Ser. 2, 

 vol. 12, No. 1, 78 pp. Ref. from Clark (1934). 



1945. The seasonal cycle in the Cornish pilchard, 

 Sardinia pilchardns Wall). Journal Mar. Biol. 

 Assn., vol. XXVI, No. 2, pp. 115-138. 



June, Fred C. 



1953. Spawning of yellowfin tuna in Hawaiian 

 waters. U. S. Dept. Interior, Fish and Wild- 

 life Service, Fishery Bull. 77, vol. 54, pp. 47-64. 

 Lkh.man, Burton A. 



1953. Fecundity of Hudson River shad. U. S. 

 Dept. Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Res. 

 Rept. No. 33, 8 pp. 



