Table 2. — Test of ova diameters from selected locations 

 from right and left ovary of sample BB-3: analysis of vari- 

 ance for one-way design. 



Table 3. — Ratio of numbers of ripe to early ripe ova. 



Analysis of Variance 



Between groups 

 Within groups 

 Total 



Sum of squares d.f. 



4072.5925 17 



162458.1074 3582 



166530.6992 3599 



Mean square F ratio 

 239.5643 5.2821 

 45.3540 



' RAC - Right anterior center 



RAM - Right anterior mid-layer 



RAO - Right anterior outer layer 



RMC - Right middle region center 



RMM - Right middle region mid-layer 



RMO - Right middle region outer layer 



RPC - Right posterior region center 



RPM - Right posterior region mid-layer 



RPO - Right posterior region outer layer 



LAC - Left anterior center 



LAM - Left anterior mid-layer 



LAO - Left anterior outer layer 



LMC - Left middle region center 



LMM - Left middle region mid-layer 



LMO - Left middle region outer layer 



LPC - Left posterior region center 



LPM - Left posterior region mid-layer 



LPO - Left posterior region outer layer 



index measures gonad size relative to fish size, it is 

 not surprising to find that the highest gonad indices 

 occuired during the apparent spawning period April 

 to July (Table 1). 



Since residual ova are remains from previous 

 spawning (Yuen and June, 1957), all ovaries from 

 our collection were examined for these ova. Re- 



Number of eariy Number of 

 Sample' ripe ova ripe ova 



Ratio index 



RAC 



RAM 



RAO 



RMC 



RMM 



RMO 



RPC 



RPM 



RPO 



170 

 195 

 220 

 303 

 319 

 477 

 194 

 280 

 106 



212 

 291 

 256 

 269 

 212 

 266 

 172 

 248 

 284 



1.2470 



1.4923 



1.1636 



.8877 



.6645 



.5576 



.8865 



.8857 



2.6792 



RAC - Right anterior center 



RAM - Right anterior mid-layer 



RAO - Right anterior outer layer 



RMC - Right middle region center 



RMM - Right middle region mid-layer 



RMO - Right middle region outer layer 



RPC - Right posterior region center 



RPM - Right posterior region mid-layer 



RPO - Right posterior region outer layer 



sidual ova were only evident in some of the samples 

 collected in May, June, and July (Table 1). Although 

 Yabe, et al. (1959), assumed that the ripe ova (modal 

 diameter 1.2 mm to 1.6 mm) were spawned at one 

 time, partial spawning of swordfish cannot be dis- 

 counted as sample BB-3, which wasjudged ripe, also 

 had residual ova. 



It is interesting to note that Sella (191 1) reported 

 that the swordfish ovary contracts after spawning 

 and remains compact and firm. This differs from 

 tunas, which tend to be noticeably flaccid (Yuen, 

 1955). Sample BB-6, which was collected in July, 

 appeared to confirm the general condition described 

 for swordfish. Although this ovary was in an early 

 stage of maturity and was firm and compact, it also 

 contained residual ova, suggesting recent spawning. 



No early ripe or ripe ovaries were collected from 

 August to April. To some extent this feature may 

 only reflect absence of mature fish, since nearly all of 

 the swordfish taken during this period were small in 

 size (Table 1) and indicative of immature fish. 



FECUNDITY 



Fecundity estimates are presented in Table 1 and 

 shown in Figure 4. Since homogeneity tests showed 

 significant differences in the distribution of ova 

 diameters within a single pair of ovaries, the esti- 

 mates should be considered only as rough approxi- 

 mations of the true fecundity of the swordfish. It 



146 



