Maturity (%) 
68 
Fishery Bulletin 115(1) 
Table 1 
Gonadosomatic (GSI) and hepatosomatic (HSI) indices at each maturity phase for male and female 
white anglerfish {Lophius piscatorius) collected from the northwestern Mediterranean Sea between 
June 2007 and December 2010. SE=standard error. 
Sex 
Maturity phase 
GSI range 
Mean GSI (SE) 
HSI range 
Mean HSI (SE) 
n 
Male 
I 
0.01-0.41 
0.10 (0.01) 
1.04-4.65 
2.37 (0.07) 
106 
II 
0.06-1.07 
0.25 (0.03) 
0.27-5.11 
2.67 (0.14) 
54 
III 
0.21-1.30 
0.61 (0.05) 
1.92-6.72 
3.20 (0.18) 
35 
IV 
0.30-1.70 
0.70 (0.09) 
0.40-5.39 
3.34 (0.28) 
17 
V 
0.19-1.11 
0.50 (0.06) 
2.04-5.10 
3.35 (0.22) 
17 
Female 
I 
0.01-0.86 
0.23 (0.02) 
0.92-5.33 
2.37 (0.11) 
66 
II 
0.04-1.22 
0.40 (0.02) 
0.42-7.79 
2.87 (0.10) 
133 
III 
0.61-1.65 
1.13 (0.52) 
2.15-5.83 
3.99 (1.85) 
2 
IV 
1.59-3.86 
2.81 (0.52) 
2.68-8.50 
5.80 (1.20) 
4 
V 
0.18-2.44 
0.66 (0.06) 
0.36-8.59 
3.03 (0.17) 
60 
spine thornyhead (Sebastolobus alascanus) , 
(Erickson and Pikitch, 1993), also spawn 
buoyant gelatinous egg masses. It has been 
proposed that the advantages of releasing 
eggs in these veils facilitate their dispersal; 
the egg veil floats near the surface and is | 
subject to the actions of wind, currents, and 
waves. The veil also serves as protection for 
eggs against predation because of the pres- 
ence of obnoxious or toxic substances in the 
veils (Armstrong et al., 1992). Moreover, the | 
veil may help with the fertilization of eggs. 
When males are present and the egg ribbon 
is laid, the ribbon keeps the eggs together 
and prevents their dispersion through the 
water. The males then eject milt near the 
veil to guarantee fertilization of all the eggs 
(Dahlgren, 1928). Armstrong et al. (1992) ; 
suggested that sperm reach oocyte cham- 
bers through the pores that connect the 
chambers when the ribbon is extruded from I; 
the female and starts to absorb water. I 
Another feature of the reproduction of 
the white anglerfish to highlight is its type 
of spermatogenesis, which is known to be 
semicystic. Spermatogenesis starts inside 
the cysts that contain germinal cells in dif- 
ferent stages of development from spermato- i 
gonia to spermatids, but it is not completed 
within the cyst. During spermatogenesis, 
the cyst breaks and spermatids are released . 
from the cyst into the lumen of the lobule, '! 
where they become spermatozoa. This kind 
of spermatogenesis has been described pre- 
viously in the family Lophiidae only in the ^ 
blackmouth angler (Lophiomus setigerus) 
(Yoneda et al., 1998) and in black anglerfish 
Figure 6 
Maturity ogives for (A) male and (B) female white anglerfish 
(Lophius piscatorius) collected from the northwestern Mediterra- 
nean Sea between June 2007 and December 2010. 
