Macchi et al.: Effects of skipped spawning on the reproductive potential of Merluccius hubbsi 
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from January surveys and using the revised interpreta- 
tion with those estimated in August of the same year, 
highly significant differences (PcO.OQl) were observed, 
mainly in the slopes (Table 2, Fig. 2). 
Age and size distributions of females 
The length distributions of mature female Argentine 
hake showed considerable annual variation during the 
spawning peak in the period 2005-2013, and 1 or 2 
modes (Fig. 3). In general, the main group of mature 
females was composed of individuals between 40 cm 
and 50 cm TL, but in some years, such as 2007 and 
2008, a high frequency of females larger than 50 cm TL 
was observed (Fig. 3). The latter figure also shows the 
fraction of the length distributions affected by SS when 
we used the maturity ogive estimated with the revised 
interpretation (Table 2). It was observed that females 
that would skip spawning are mainly specimens small- 
er than 50 cm TL, and have a modal size between 37 
and 40 cm TL (Fig. 3). 
Figure 4 shows the average age distributions ob- 
tained after grouping all years sampled and by apply- 
ing the traditional interpretation of maturity and after 
considering the effect of skipped spawning. This figure 
confirms that females that would skip spawning were 
mainly younger specimens. Approximately 70% of fe- 
males that skipped spawning were 3 years old. 
Reproductive potential 
Batch fecundity for female Argentine hake sampled in 
January between 2005 and 2013 ranged from 70,000 
to 3,170,000 hydrated oocytes, for fish between 29 cm 
and 95 cm TL. The relationship of batch fecundity to 
TL and to age for each sampled year fitted a power 
model (Table 4). 
The number of oocytes produced by batch and by 1-cm 
