464 
Fishery Bulletin 95(3), 1997 
line gear until after they had completed the resorp- 
tion of recognizable postovulatory follicles. This pos- 
sibility seems unlikely because most collections of 
premetamorphic bonefish larvae are from offshore 
waters (Alexander, 1961); thus spawning bonefish 
probably move out of the shallow waters (<2 m) where 
fishing usually occurs. Alexander (1961) suggested 
that bonefish either spawn offshore or in areas where 
currents are likely to carry the eggs offshore. 
Fecundity 
We did not examine any bonefish ovaries containing 
oocytes in the final stages of oocyte maturation or 
showing definitive evidence of recent spawning, such 
as postovulatory follicles. Consequently, we do not 
know if bonefish are isochronal or multiple-batch 
spawners, and we could not estimate batch fecun- 
dity. If annual fecundity in bonefish is indeterminate 
(Hunter et al., 1992), our estimate of total fecundity 
may not accurately represent total annual egg pro- 
duction. The bonefish spawning season is prolonged, 
and the potential exists for additional vitellogenic 
oocytes to mature from the standing stock of unyolked 
oocytes during the spawning season. Some ovaries 
contained vitellogenic oocytes, widespread atresia, 
and were loosely organized and highly vascularized. 
These females may have spawned earlier in the sea- 
son and were developing an additional batch of oo- 
cytes that would have been spawned later in the sea- 
son. It is unclear whether these oocytes were re- 
cruited from the standing stock of unyolked oocytes 
after previous spawning or if they were vitellogenic 
oocytes already present in the ovary that did not ovu- 
late during previous spawning. Another bias of our 
fecundity estimates is that we could not correct them 
for atretic losses of vitellogenic oocytes during the 
spawning season; these losses could have caused us 
to overestimate egg production. 
Acknowledgments 
We thank Captain John Kipp, who provided us with 
most of the bonefish examined in this study and with- 
out whose efforts this work would not have been pos- 
sible. We also thank Captain Mike Collins, the Florida 
Keys Fishing Guides Association, and the Islamorada 
bonefish tournaments for their support. We also 
thank John Swanson, Bill Gibbs, and the staff at the 
Keys Marine Laboratory for their assistance; Jim 
Colvocoresses, John Hunt, and others at the South 
Florida Regional Laboratory for their cooperation; 
and David Harshany, Victor Neugebauer, and Connie 
Stevens for their assistance. Jim Colvocoresses, 
Harry Grier, Judy Leiby, Rich McBride, Jim Quinn, 
and Dana Winkelman made helpful comments that 
improved the manuscript. This work was supported 
in part under funding from the Department of the 
Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Federal Aid 
for Sportfish Restoration Project Number F-59. 
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