The Fecundity of Plaice From the Coasts of Norway

• Published in: Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom
• Main Author: Bagenal, T. B.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1962
• Subjects: Aquatic Science; Norway; Bergen; Tromso; Kattegat
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0025315400004483; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0025315400004483

An analysis has been made of plaice fecundity at four localities in Norway. The fish tended to be larger than those used in other fecundity investigations, and the comparison between localities has been made by considering the average egg number expected in a 50 cm fish. In general the plaice off Norway had more eggs than in the North Sea or round the British Isles. At Arendal in the Skagerrak the fecundity was 355 thousand for 50 cm, which is lower than has been found in the Kattegat, but a little higher than I found at Bergen (317 thousand eggs). At Arendal and Bergen the fecundity was higher than has been found in the North Sea but lower than in localities farther north in Norway. In Trondheim Fjord the plaice fecundity was very high indeed. Among the eleven fish examined it varied from 673 thousand to nearly ½ million eggs, and for an average 50 cm plaice would be 819 thousand. The female fish on the coast outside the fjord were quite different and contained about half the number of eggs (407 thousand for 50 cm). These coast plaice were very similar to those caught in the vicinity of Tromso where a 50 cm fish would have about 400 thousand eggs.