Zudaire et a!.: Reproductive potential of Thunnus albacares in the western Indian Ocean 
263 
Acknowledgments 
We thank X. Salaberria for his work in processing 
samples. We greatly appreciate the assistance of J. 
Murua, G. Ocio, and A. Sanchez for sample collections 
on board the purse seiner. This research benefited from 
the financial support of the Department of Agriculture, 
Fisheries and Food of the Basque Government, and 
the Pesqueria Vasco Montanesa S.A. (PEVASA) fishing 
company. This work was partly funded by a grant from 
the Fundacion Centros Tecnologicos Inaki Goenaga to 
Iker Zudaire for his doctoral work. We also are grateful 
for the contribution received from EMOTION project 
(ANR JSV7 007 01). This paper is contribution no. 628 
from AZTI-Tecnalia (Marine Research Department). 
Literature cited 
Alonso-Fernandez, A., and F. Saborido-Rey. 
2012. Relationship between energy allocation and re- 
productive strategy in Trisopterus luscus. J. Exp. Mar. 
Biol. Ecol. 416-417:8-16. 
Arrington, D. A., B. K. Davidson, K. O. Winemiller, and C. A. 
Layman. 
2006. Influence of life history and seasonal hydrology on 
lipid storage in three neotropical fish species. J. Fish 
Biol. 68:1347-1361. 
Ashton, W. D. 
1972. The logit transformation with special reference to 
its uses in bioassay, 87 p. Hafner Publ. Co. Inc., New 
York. 
Brown-Peterson, N. J., D. M. Wyanski, F. Saborido-Rey, B. J. 
Macewicz, and S. K Lowerre-Barbieri. 
2011. A standardized terminology for describing re- 
productive development in fishes. Mar. Coast. Fish. 
3:52-70. 
Claramunt, G., R. Serra, L. R. Castro, and L. Cubillos. 
2007. Is the spawning frequency dependent on fe- 
male size? Empirical evidence in Sardinops sagax 
and Engraulis ringens off northern Chile. Fish. Res. 
85:248-257. 
Collette, B. B., and C. E. Nauen. 
1983. FAO species catalogue. Vol. 2: Scombrids of the 
world: an annotated and illustrated catalogue of tunas, 
mackerels, bonitos, and related species known to date, 
137 p. FAO, Rome. 
Dominguez-Petit, R., and F. Saborido-Rey. 
2010. New bioenergetic perspective of European hake 
( Merluccius merluccius L.) reproductive ecology. Fish. 
Res. 104:83-88. 
Dominguez-Petit, R., F. Saborido-Rey, and I. Medina. 
2010. Changes of proximate composition, energy storage 
and condition of European hake ( Merluccius merluc- 
cius, L. 1758) through the spawning season. Fish. Res. 
104:73-82. 
Henderson, B.A., and G. E. Morgan. 
2002. Maturation of walleye by age, size and surplus en- 
ergy. J. Fish Biol. 61:999-1011. 
Hunter, J. R., B. J. Macewicz, and C. A. Kimbrell. 
1989. Fecundity and other aspects of the reproduction 
Sablefish, Anoplopoma fimbria, in central California 
water. CalCOFI Rep. Vol. 30, 61-72 p. 
Korta, M. 
2010. New methodologies applied to quantify the dy- 
namics of the ovary in indeterminate fecundity species. 
Ph.D. diss., 208 p. Univ. Basque Country, Leioa, Spain. 
Lauth, R. R., and R. J. Olson. 
1996. Distribution and abundance of larval Scombridae 
in relation to the physical environment in the north- 
western Panama Bight. Inter-Am. Trop. Tuna Comm. 
Bull. 21:127-167. 
Lowerre-Barbieri, S. K., N. Henderson, J. Llopiz, S. Walters, J. 
Bickford, and R. Muller. 
2009. Defining a spawning population (spotted seatrout 
Cynoscion nebulosus ) over temporal, spatial, and demo- 
graphic scales. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 394:231-245. 
Lowerre-Barbieri, S. K., K. Ganias, F. Saborido-Rey, H. Murua, 
and J. R. Hunter. 
2011. Reproductive timing in marine fishes: Variabil- 
ity, temporal scales, and methods. Mar. Coast. Fish. 
3:71-91. 
Margulies, D., J. M. Suter, S. L. Hunt, R. J. Olson, V. P. Schol- 
ey, J. B. Wexler, and A. Nakazawa. 
2007. Spawning and early development of captive yellow- 
fin tuna (Thunnus albacares). Fish. Bull. 105:249-265. 
Marquardt, D. W. 
1963. Algorithm for least-squares estimation of nonlin- 
ear parameters. J. Soc. Ind. Appl. Math. 11:431-441. 
Marshall, C.T., N. A. Yaragina, Y. Lambert, and O. S. Kjesbu. 
1999. Total lipid energy as a proxy for total egg produc- 
tion by fish stocks. Nature 402:288-290. 
McPherson, G. R. 
1991. Reproductive biology of yellowfin tuna in the east- 
ern Australian fishing zone, with special reference to 
the North-western Coral Sea. Aust. J. Mar. Freshw. 
Res. 42:465-477. 
Morgan, M., H. Murua, G. Kraus, Y. Lambert, G. Marteinsdot- 
tir, C. Marshall, L. OBrien, and J. Tomkiewicz. 
2009. The evaluation of reference points and stock 
productivity in the context of alternative indices of 
stock reproductive potential. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 
66:404-414. 
Murua, H., and L. Motos. 
2006. Reproductive strategy and spawning activity of 
the European hake Merluccius merluccius (L.) in the 
Bay of Biscay. J. Fish Biol. 69:1288-1303. 
Murua, H., and F. Saborido-Rey. 
2003. Female reproductive strategies of commercially 
important fish species in the North Atlantic. J. North- 
west Atl. Fish. Sci. 33:23-32. 
Murua, H., G. Kraus, F. Saborido-Rey, P. R. Witthames, A. 
Thorsen, and S. Junquera. 
2003. Procedures to estimate fecundity of marine fish 
species in relation to their reproductive strategy. J. 
Northwest Atl. Fish. Sci. 33:33-54. 
Murua, H., L. Ibaibarriaga, P. Alvarez, M. Santos, M. Korta, 
M. Santurtun, and L. Motos. 
2010. The daily egg production method: A valid tool for 
application to European hake in the Bay of Biscay? 
Fish. Res. 104:100-110. 
Rideout, R. M., and J. Tomkiewizs. 
2011. Skipped spawning in fishes: More common than 
you might think. Marine and Coastal Fisheries. Mar. 
Coast. Fish. 3:176-189. 
Saborido-Rey, F., and S. Junquera. 
1998. Histological assessment of variations in sexual 
