Reproductive timing can be defined as the temporal pattern of reproduction over a lifetime. Although reproductive timing is highly variable in marine fishes, certain traits are universal, including sexual maturity, undergoing one or more reproductive cycles, participating in one or more spawning events within a reproductive cycle, release of eggs or offspring, aging, and death. These traits commonly occur at four temporal scales: lifetime, annual, intraseasonal, and diel. It has long been known that reproductive timing affects reproductive success, especially in terms of the onset of sexual maturity and the match or mismatch between seasonal spawning and offspring survival. However, a comprehensive understanding of variability in reproductive timing over species, populations, and temporal scales is lacking. In addition, there is a need to assess how variability in reproductive timing affects a population's resilience. Because natural selection occurs at the individual level, this necessitates an ...

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Reproductive Timing in Marine Fishes: Variability, Temporal Scales, and Methods

Although incorporating detailed reproductive data into all stock assessments is not a practical goal, the need to understand how reproductive biology affects population productivity is being increasingly recognized. More research focused on reproductive biology—coupled with a shift towards a resilience perspective in fisheries science—is resulting in challenges to many long-held assumptions; the emergence of important new issues; and identification of the need to improve data and methods used in reproductive studies. Typically, data for reproductive studies are based on an assessment of gonadal development, which is most accurately evaluated with histology. This special section of Marine and Coastal Fisheries contains contributions from a workshop on the gonadal histology of fishes that was held in Cadiz, Spain, during June 2009. These papers cover a wide range of species and reproductive topics while introducing improved and new histological techniques. In this introduction, we address the follo...

/pdf/emerging-issues-and-methodological-advances-in-fisheries-2di1o9wqy0.pdf

Emerging Issues and Methodological Advances in Fisheries Reproductive Biology

Applied Fish Reproductive Biology: Contribution of Individual Reproductive Potential to Recruitment and Fisheries Management

Differences in cytochrome P450 enzyme activities between fish and crustacea: relationship with the bioaccumulation patterns of polychlorobiphenyls (PCBs)

We engaged in cooperative research with fishers and stakeholders to characterize the fine-scale, spatio-temporal characteristics of spawning behavior in an aggregating marine fish (Cynoscion othonopterus: Sciaenidae) and coincident activities of its commercial fishery in the Upper Gulf of California. Approximately 1.5–1.8 million fish are harvested annually from spawning aggregations of C. othonopterus during 21–25 days of fishing and within an area of 1,149 km2 of a biosphere reserve. Spawning and fishing are synchronized on a semi-lunar cycle, with peaks in both occurring 5 to 2 days before the new and full moon and fishing intensity and catch are highest at the spawning grounds within a no-take reserve. Results of this study demonstrate the benefits of combining GPS data loggers, fisheries data, biological surveys and cooperative research with fishers to produce spatio-temporally explicit information relevant to the science and management of fish spawning aggregations and the spatial planning of marine reserves.

/pdf/spatio-temporal-dynamics-of-a-fish-spawning-aggregation-and-1xu2etp4zi.pdf

Spatio-temporal dynamics of a fish spawning aggregation and its fishery in the Gulf of California

As the number of fish reproduction studies has proliferated, so has the number of gonadal classification schemes and terms. This has made it difficult for both scientists and resource managers to communicate and for comparisons to be made among studies. We propose the adoption of a simple, universal terminology for the phases in the reproductive cycle, which can be applied to all male and female elasmobranch and teleost fishes. These phases were chosen because they define key milestones in the reproductive cycle; the phases include immature, developing, spawning capable, regressing, and regenerating. Although the temporal sequence of events during gamete development in each phase may vary among species, each phase has specific histological and physiological markers and is conceptually universal. The immature phase can occur only once. The developing phase signals entry into the gonadotropin-dependent stage of oogenesis and spermatogenesis and ultimately results in gonadal growth. The spawning cap...

https://afspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/19425120.2011.555724

A Standardized Terminology for Describing Reproductive Development in Fishes

Department of Coastal Sciences, University of Southern Mississippi, Ocean Springs, MS 39564; Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, St. Petersburg, FL 33701;Southwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, La Jolla, CA 92037; Instiuto de Investigaciones Marinas, c/Educado Cabello, Vigo, Spain; Danish Institute for Fisheries Research, Charlottenlund, Denmark; Marine Resources Research Institute, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, Charleston, SC 29422; *Order of authorship is alphabetical

http://digital.csic.es/bitstream/10261/11844/1/A%20New%20and%20Simplified%20Terminology%20for%20Reproductive%20Classification%20in%20Fishes.pdf

Beverly J. Macewicz

Papers

A Standardized Terminology for Describing Reproductive Development in Fishes

An Improved and Simplified Terminology for Reproductive Classification in Fishes