420 



Fishery Bulletin 102(3) 



Table 1 



Macroscopic and histological descriptions of stages used to 



describe female black rockfish maturity. 



Maturity stage 



Macroscopic description 



Histological description 



1 Immature 



Small and translucent ovary, pink during months 

 without sexual activity and yellowish (except for 

 very small fish) during months with reproductive 

 activity. 



2 Vitellogenesis Ovary firm and yellow or occasionally cream in 

 color. Large range of size, but all with visible opaque 

 eggs. 



3 Fertilization 



4 Eyed larvae 



5 Spent 



6 Resting 



Eggs are golden and translucent. Ovary extremely 

 large in relation to body cavity. Ovary wall thin and 

 easily torn. 



Eyes of developing embryos visible, giving ovary 

 an overall greyish color. Ovary fills a large 

 portion of the body cavity. 



Ovary flaccid, purplish-red in color. Eyed larvae 

 may still be visible. 



Ovary again firm and pink in color. Black spots may 

 be visible. 



Oocyte cytoplasm intensely basophilic. Densely 

 packed oogonial nests and developing oocytes, with 

 larger oocytes containing small clear vesicles. 



Oogonia and developing oocytes still visible, but 

 ovary dominated by large oocytes with numerous 

 small red-staining yolk globules. 



Fertilized eggs ovulated and found within the 

 ovarian cavity. Eggs have a single pink-staining 

 yolk mass and clear oil droplet. 



Presence of developing larvae with black pigmented 

 eyes. Yolk mass absorbed in late-stage larvae, but 

 oil droplet usually present. 



Early-stage oocytes loosely associated. Extensive 

 network of blood vessels. Possibility of encountering 

 residual larvae. 



Similar appearance to immature fish. Ovary wall 

 slightly thicker in early summer. 



AF = EW 



The number of ova in the subsamples were counted and 

 absolute fecundity was estimated by using the following 

 algorithm: 



i ssc 



ssw 



where AF = absolute fecundity, or the total number of 

 eggs per female; 

 EW = weight of rinsed eggs (or larvae); 

 SSC t = subsample count i, where j=l to 3; and 

 SSW t = subsample weight i, where £=1 to 3. 



Relative fecundity (RF), based on gonad-free somatic 

 weight was estimated by 



RF = — —. 



TW-GW 



where AF = absolute fecundity, or the total number of 

 eggs per female; 

 TW = total weight: and 

 GW = gonad weight. 



For our analyses of fecundity, we used only fish in which 

 the number of eggs or larvae estimated from the three 

 subsamples had coefficients of variation less than or 

 equal to 59;, and for prefertilization eggs we used only 

 females with average egg diameters of at least 450 jj 

 to ensure inclusion of all developing oocytes. Only one 

 cohort of developing oocytes is present in the ovary of 



