Fecundity of the deep-sea fish in the north-east atlantic Alepocephalus bairdii (Pisces: Alepocephalidae)

• Published in: Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom
• Main Author: Allain, V.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1999
• Subjects: Aquatic Science; North East Atlantic
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0025315498000952; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0025315498000952

Alepocephalus bairdii is a deep sea fish caught but discarded by semi-industrial fisheries from the north-east Atlantic Ocean. Reproductive features were investigated on 448 females of 29–93 cm standard length (SL) captured over 2 y (December 1995–December 1997) at 800–1280 m off the west coast of the British Isles. The first maturity of females was determined at L 50 =55 cm SL. A well-defined spawning period could not be determined in this species; a batch spawner characterized by an indeterminate annual fecundity. Absolute batch fecundity was estimated between 458 and 7049 oocytes per female 63–88 cm SL.