Spawning and Sexual Maturity of Gulf Menhaden, Brevoortia patronus

Gulf menhaden make annual inshore-offshore movements. The larvae spend 3-5 wk in offshore waters before moving into estuaries where they transform into the adult form. The following autumn the juveniles migrate from the estuaries of offshore waters, along with all other age-groups that are moving from inshore waters of the gulf at this time. Fish of all age-groups migrate to inshore waters again the following spring. The objectives of this study were to: (1) estimate the minimum number of maturing ova for specific age-groups and size groups, (2) estimate the percentage of fish that spawn at each age, (3) determine the time of spawning, and (4) determine the frequency of spawning.