Maturation, spawning and growth of rock soles off Kodiak Island in the Gulf of Alaska

• Published in: Journal of Fish Biology
• Main Authors: Stark, J. W., Somerton, D. A.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2002
• Subjects: Gulf of Alaska; Midwinter; Kodiak; Alaska
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8649.2002.tb01574.x; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1095-8649.2002.tb01574.x; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1095-8649.2002.tb01574.x

Northern rock sole Lepidopsetta polyxystra females from the Kodiak Island area, Alaska, reached 50% maturity at 328 mm L T and an average age of 7 years. In contrast, southern rock sole Lepidopsetta bilineata females reached 50% maturity at 347 mm L T and an average age of 9 years. Spawning started in midwinter for northern rock sole and peaked during the spring, while spawning for southern rock sole occurred during the summer. The bottom depth for spawning northern rock sole ranged from 43 to 61 m and averaged 45 m; spawning depth for southern rock sole ranged from 35 to 120m and averaged 78m. Both species appeared to develop a single stock of oocytes and to ovulate them in a single spawning. Northern rock sole females grew faster overall ( K =0.24) than southern rock sole females ( K =0.12) but reached a smaller maximum length ( L ∞ =430 mm) than southern rock sole ( L ∞ =520mm). Males of both species grew more slowly than females after 5 years of age and reached a smaller maximum length.