220 



Fishery Bulletin 90(2), 1992 



Fecundity in 17 individuals of 610-1048 mm TL 

 ranged from 301,150 to 2,780,632 ova. Fecundity in- 

 creased linearly with TL in that size range (Fig. 1), the 

 regression equation being 



number of ova = 



4495.04(TL)- 2,403,814.8 



(r2 0.67). 



Log transformations of one or both variables failed to 

 provide a better fit. 



Goosefish reached sexual maturity (by macroscopic 

 staging) at 290-450 mm in males and 390-590 mm in 

 females (Fig. 2). Linear regressions of proportion 

 mature (arcsine-square root transformed) on TL for 

 these size intervals were: 



Proportion of males mature = 



0.0089(TL)- 2.498 (r2 0.96) 



Proportion of females mature = 



0.0079(TL)- 3.056 (r2 0.86). 



Values for length at 50% maturity were 368.9mm in 

 males and 485.3mm in females. 



Ovaries and testes followed similar patterns of devel- 

 opment, with the exception that testes changed from 

 a resting to developing state earlier in the year (Jan.- 

 Feb.) (Fig. 3). No resting gonads were found for either 

 sex in May or June. The percentage of spent gonads 

 was highest in July- August, indicating that spawning 

 had taken place in the previous time interval (May- 

 June). Although the percentage of ripe gonads was 



highest in May-June, gonads in a near-spawning state 

 were also found in March-April and July-August. 



Gonasomatic values were calculated for 117 mature 

 males and 98 mature females. The GSI peaked in May- 

 June for females and March-April and May-June for 

 males (Fig. 4). High index values in these months 

 corresponded with the greatest incidence of ripe in- 

 dividuals (Fig. 3). Again, similar to observations based 

 on gonad condition, males appeared to develop earlier 

 in the season and remain ripe longer. No mature 

 females were collected during the Jan. -Feb. interval. 



GSI values for females were much greater than for 

 males (Table 2). Females showed a large increase in 

 GSI as the ovaries developed. The greatest value 

 recorded was 50.9, from a ripe female. This value in- 

 dicates that greater than half of the body weight was 

 composed of ovarian mass. However, only a relatively 

 small percentage of the ovarian weight from late- 

 developing and ripe females was composed of ova. The 

 actual percentage of the ovarian weight which was ova 

 ranged from 12.9% to 33.5% for the seventeen females 

 used for fecundity analysis. The remainder of the 

 weight was ovarian tissue, and more importantly, the 

 muco-gelatinous matrix surrounding the ova. 



Slides were prepared from sections of 33 ovaries and 

 20 testes. Representatives from all the developmental 



