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Fishery Bulletin 115(1) 
Figure 4 
Histological sections of testes from actively spawning male white anglerfish (Lophius pis- 
catorius) showing (A) lobular organization, (B) spermatozoa in the lumen of the seminal 
lobules and in the sperm duct, (C) seminal lobules during spermatogenesis, and (D) a 
close-up of the seminal lobules. Ta=tunica albuginea, L=seminal lobule, Bv=blood vessel, 
Sz=spermatozoa, Sg=spermatogonia, Sc^spermatocyte, St=spermatid, Scale bars=25 pm. 
of Biscay), spawning occurs during summer (Quinco- 
ces et al.^). In fact, spawning activity for one of its 
congenerics, the black anglerfish, in the northwestern 
Mediterranean seems to occur from November through 
March and a secondary spawning occurs in August and 
September (Colmenero et ah, 2013). Although a little 
overlap exists between spawning seasons of both of 
these Lophius species in Mediterranean waters, the 
main period is markedly different, and that difference 
lessens competition among these species. 
Usually, species of Lophius have long spawning peri- 
ods ranging between 4 and 6 months. Black anglerfish 
off the Spanish-Atlantic coasts spawn from November 
through February (Duarte et al., 2001), and in the 
Bay of Biscay the peak spawning period is from May 
through July (Quincoces et al.®). The goosefish off the 
^ Quincoces, I., M. Santurtiin, and P. Lucio. 1998. Biological 
aspects of white anglerfish (Lophius piscatorius) in the Bay 
of Biscay (ICES Division Villa, b, d), in 1996-1997. ICES 
Council Meeting (C.M.) Documents 1998/0:48, 29 p. 
^ Quincoces, I., P. Lucio, and M. Santurtiin. 1998. Biology 
of black anglerfish Lophius budegassa in the Bay of Biscay 
East Coast of the United States has its reproductive 
period from May through June (Armstrong et al., 1992), 
spawning for the blackfin goosefish off the Brazilian 
coasts takes place during spring and summer (Valen- 
tim et al., 2007), and the yellow goosefish spawns be- 
tween February and May in the East China Sea and 
the Yellow Sea (Yoneda et al., 2001). The devil ang- 
lerfish off the coast of South Africa has a well-defined 
summer breeding season (Griffiths and Hecht, 1986), 
and individuals of this species off the coast of Namibia 
spawn throughout the year with a slight increase be- 
tween autumn and spring (Maartens and Booth, 2005). 
Most deep-sea fish species reach sexual maturity at 
sizes larger than those of species that inhabit the con- 
tinental shelf reach maturity, and, in some cases, males 
mature at smaller sizes than females (Rotllant et al., 
2002; Pajuelo et al., 2008). A similar pattern was ob- 
served for white anglerfish — one in which females ma- 
ture sexually at larger sizes (59.9 cm TL) than those 
recorded for males (48.4 cm TL). This pattern has also 
waters, during 1996-1997. ICES Council Meeting (C.M.) 
Documents 1998/0:47, 28 p. 
