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Reproductive Biology Of Chesapeake Bay Black Drum, Pogonias Cromis, With An Assessment Of Fixatives And Stains For Histological Examination Of Teleost Ovaries, Brian K. Wells

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Based on three years of data collection on the periodicity of the spawning run, the gonadosomatic index (GSI), and gonad histology, the spawning season for Chesapeake Bay black drum was found to be significantly shorter and later compared to populations from Florida and the Gulf of Mexico. The GSI is maximal in early April when black drum first enter the Chesapeake Bay region in contrast to data from Florida where GSI peaks during February and March. I confirm that black drum from the Chesapeake Bay are batch spawners. These results match those found for populations of black drum in the …