Table 5.— Rockfish spawning by months as Indicated by aebaatodes larvae taken In plankton net tows at CalCOFI station off of the coast of 



California and Baja California, 1950-57 



■^Percent spawning is weighted to the number of stations in that month. 



DESCRIPTION OF THE OVARIES AND EGGS 



The ovaries are sac- shaped, of about equal 

 size, and slightly joined posteriorly. Those 

 containing yolked eggs or early embryos are 

 yellow, except that some ovaries of Sebastodes 

 paucispinis tend to be cream-colored. Ovaries 

 that contain late embryos (stage XI) become 

 dark gray owing to the formation of larval 

 pigment, especially in the eyes. 



Variations Among Ovaries of Different 

 Species of Sebastodes 



The ovaries of three species--S. paucis- 

 pinis , S. ovalis , and S. constellatus -- contained 

 remains of larvae from the previous spawn- 

 ing. Most ovaries of S. paucispinis and S. 

 ovalis that contained embryos or xinfertilized 

 eggs also had dark blotches or spots just 

 under the tissue of the ovarian envelope. In 

 at least sonne specimens this dark material 

 was composed of pigment spots of advanced 

 larvae from a previous spawning that had 

 failed to escape from the ovary upon hatching. 

 The yolk sacs of airthese larvae were almost 

 completely absorbed, and the larvae were 

 developed beyond the stage at which they are 

 normally released. In some ovaries the lar- 

 vae were intact and in good condition (fig. 1); 

 in others they were disintegrating; and in 

 still others only the pigmented lenses of the 

 eyes remained (fig. 2), 



Advanced larvae, more or less intact, from 

 the previous spawning were found in 6 of the 

 13 ^. paucispinis studies and were associated 

 with early embryos and unfertilized eggs. 

 Four contained questionable larval remnants, 



and no traces of larvae were found in the re- 

 maining three; embryos were more advanced 

 in these seven ovaries than in the other six. 



Four of five S. ovalis contained larvae from 

 the previous spawning with the developing 

 eggs or embryos. The ovaries of the fifth 

 contained a full complement of embryos on 

 the verge of hatching and a group of unfer- 

 tilized eggs near maturity. The estimated 

 number of embryos was 118,000, and the 

 number of eggs 121,000. Figure 3 shows 

 stage XI embryos and unfertilized eggs from 

 this fish. 



Of five S. constellatus taken on April 11, 

 three contained stage X and XI embryos and 

 a secondary group of unfertilized yolked eggs 

 about equal in numbers to the primary groups 

 of eggs containing embryos. Diameters of 

 these smaller eggs were 0,20 to 0,46 mm. 

 Neither of the remaining two specimens had 

 secondary groups of yolked eggs, but one that 

 contained stage II embryos also had black 

 pigment spots that may have been larval 

 remnants within the ovary, and one containing 

 advanced unfertilized eggs also contained one 

 advanced larva, in good condition, from a 

 former spawning. No evidence of previous 

 spawning appeared in the ovaries of the 

 three specimens that contained the secondary 

 modes of eggs. 



None of the other species of Sebastodes 

 examined contained larvae such as those found 

 in the above three species. The ovaries of 

 all species had small eggs less than 0.20 mm. 

 in diameter, without yolks. The ovaries of 

 two S. mystinis , one 272-mm. S. constellatus 

 taken March 3, and one--the smallest--S, 

 carnatus contained only this type of egg. 



