Description of embryonic development of Atka mackerel (Pleurogrammus monopterygius)

• Main Authors: Lauth, Robert R., Blood, Deborah M.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2007
• Subjects: Biology; Ecology; Fisheries; Atka; Lowe; Pacific; Sinclair; Subarctic
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1834/25514

Atka mackerel (Pleurogrammus monopterygius) is hexagrammid fish that inhabits the temperate and subarctic North Pacific Ocean and neighboring seas (Fig. 1). This highlyabundant fish is a critically important prey species (Sinclair and Zeppelin, 2002; Zenger, 2004) that supportsa directed commercial trawl fishery (Lowe et al., 2006). Atka mackerel is a demersal spawner and males provideparental care to eggs (Zolotov, 1993). During breeding periods, sexually mature males aggregate on the bottom at nesting sites where they establish territories (Lauth et al., in press). Sexually mature females periodically visit male nesting territories from July to October to spawn batches of demersal egg masses (McDermott and Lowe, 1997; McDermott et al., 2007). Individual nests may consistof multiple egg masses deposited by different females, and males defend nesting territories for a protracted period lasting from the time territories are being established until all eggs within the territory are completely hatched (Lauth et al., 2007). Knowledge about the timing of thereproductive cycle and the use of spawning habitat are important for understanding population structure and the dynamics of stock recruitment, which in turn are importantfactors in the management of Atka mackerel populations.