Timescale of ovarian maturation in Notothenia coriiceps; evidence for a prolonged adolescent phase

• Published in: Ibis
• Main Author: Everson, Inigo
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 1994
• Subjects: Ripen; Signy Island
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8649.1994.tb01271.x; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1095-8649.1994.tb01271.x; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1095-8649.1994.tb01271.x

Ovarian maturation in Notothenia coriiceps is known to include a period during which yolk deposition begins to take place. This ‘adolescent’ phase was thought originally to last for about 1 year. The results from a 2–year study at Signy Island indicate that this adolescent phase lasts for about 4 years. There is also some evidence to indicate that not all sexually mature fish spawn each season. Two reproductive strategies are considered, one where adverse conditions are accompanied by a failure to spawn and an alternative where fecundity is controlled by the number of small oocytes which ripen.