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Potential annual fecundity (PAF) and skipped spawning of winter flounder, Pseudopleuronectes americanus , were compared among the three stocks in United States waters and between two spawning seasons. Winter flounder have group-synchronous oocyte development and determinate fecundity. These characteristics enable estimation of PAF just prior to spawning by enumeration of the late-vitellogenic cohort of oocytes, in this case employing the autodiametric method. There was a low level of down-regulation, which was limited to fish in the earlier stages of vitellogenesis. Estimates of PAF increased substantially with female size and age, ranging from 5 million eggs per female. Fecundity at size decreased with increasing latitude. On average, fish from the Southern New England (SNE) stock had the highest individual fecundities at length and Gulf of Maine (GOM) the lowest, but differences varied among the years. Fecundity at length of fish from Georges Bank (GB) was intermediate to these two stocks and displayed less variability at size; however, GB fish grow faster so they had the highest relative fecundity at age. Skipped spawning also exhibited geographic differences; it was infrequent ( |
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