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Length‐Weight Relationships and Sexual Maturity of Goosefish off the Northeast Coast of the United States
Author(s) -
Almeida Frank P.,
Hartley DanaLyn,
Burnett Jay
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
north american journal of fisheries management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.587
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1548-8675
pISSN - 0275-5947
DOI - 10.1577/1548-8675(1995)015<0014:lwrasm>2.3.co;2
Subject(s) - sexual maturity , biology , population , fishery , maturity (psychological) , fish <actinopterygii> , zoology , ecology , demography , psychology , developmental psychology , sociology
Because goosefish Lophius americanus arc usually landed “tails‐only” in the U.S. commercial fishery, relationships are required to provide a means to convert tail lengths or weights to total fish lengths. To accomplish this, length‐weight relationships for goosefish inhabiting the waters off the northeastern coast of the United States were calculated. The sexual maturation schedule was compared to the size frequency of individuals landed tails‐only to determine the extent to which the current fishery is landing immature goosefish. Analyses of available maturity data indicate that both sexes begin to mature at about 30 cm total length; males generally attain 100% maturity by about 50 cm and females by about 60 cm. The length at which 50% of the males from both the northern and southern components of the population matured ( L 50 ) averaged about 40 cm; L 50 for females averaged about 44 cm. Mean lengths at which 75°k were mature ( L 75 ) were 45 cm for males and 52 cm for females. Overall L 50 (sexes and areas combined) was 42.3 cm, corresponding to a tail length of 28.7 cm from the insertion of the first postcephalic dorsal fin spine to the end of the caudal fin ( L PCDS1 ); overall L 75 was 48.6 cm, corresponding to a tail length (from the first postcephalic spine) of 33.0 cm. These relationships may be used to evaluate the size composition and sexual maturity of the landed portion of the population and in the development of management policies to minimize the impact of' fisheries on immature fish.