802 
Fishery Bulletin 96(4), 1998 
occurrence of hydrated oocytes 
or postovulatory follicles (Fig. 
3). Spawning individuals were 
caught from North Carolina to 
Florida by commercial fisher- 
men and fishery-independent 
sampling (MARMAP). Ap- 
proximate fishing locations 
provided by commercial fish- 
ermen indicated that gag were 
spawning from the border be- 
tween North Carolina and 
South Carolina to a point east 
of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. 
Spawning individuals were 
captured on research cruises 
off South Carolina and Geor- 
gia at depths ranging from 49 
to 91 m. The spawning season 
appeared to be more pro- 
tracted in southern Florida 
than in other areas, with 
spawning beginning in De- 
cember and extending into 
mid May. Peak spawning oc- 
curred from March through 
mid-April (Fig. 4). When the 
data were stratified by area, 
the highest percentage of spawning females was 
found in northern Florida during March and April 
(Fig. 4). 
Overall, spawning of gag declined rapidly after 8 
April. Individuals undergoing sexual transition were 
extremely rare during most of the spawning season; 
only one transitional specimen was documented dur- 
ing February and March 1994-95, out of 2147 fish 
examined (Table 7). There was a sharp increase in 
the number of transitional individuals immediately 
after the spawning season. The majority of transi- 
tional fish (n=26) were collected during mid-April 
through mid-June when 1473 gag gonads were ex- 
Table 6 
Results of probit analysis comparing the proportions of 
mature females in 5-cm length intervals collected during 
two periods: 1976—82 and 1994-95 (TL=total length). 
Parameter 
Estimate 
SE 
P 
Intercept 
-12.304 
0.871 
<0.0001 
Period 
-0.378 
0.176 
0.0320 
cm TL 
0.192 
0.013 
<0.0001 * 
= significant at P< 0.05; = significant at P<0.0001. 
amined. AN OVA and the Duncan multiple range tests 
indicated that there were significant differences in 
the mean lengths of gag sampled between months. 
When the number of males, females, and transi- 
tionals between 889 mm and 1050 mm was tabulated 
Table 7 
Total number sampled (n ), mean total length ( mm TL; sexes 
combined), standard deviation (SD), number of males (M), 
number of females (F), and number of transitional speci- 
mens (T) by month for mature gag captured during 1994 
and 1995. Means with same letter are not significantly 
different (P>0.05). 
Month 
n 
x TL 
SD 
M 
F 
T 
Jan 
243 
821.0 bcd 
85.5 
10 
229 
4 
Feb 
754 
829. 7*"' 
87.0 
27 
726 
1 
Mar 
1142 
859. 0 6 
99.2 
87 
1055 
— 
Apr 
1027 
844.8 fcc 
86.4 
50 
965 
12 
May 
297 
873. 2° 6 
110.8 
48 
235 
14 
Jun 
48 
928.1° 
110.7 
11 
32 
5 
Jul 
77 
925.9“ 
124.1 
19 
56 
2 
Aug 
2 
717. ty 
106.1 
— 
2 
— 
Sep 
33 
774. 8°f 
84.1 
2 
31 
— 
Oct 
24 
759. Tf 
83.6 
— 
24 
— 
Nov 
77 
818.5* 
86.8 
— 
76 
— 
Dec 
89 
788. 5 C * 
89.7 
2 
86 
1 
