Ovarian Development and Spawning Seasonality of Goosefish

The American goosefish or monkfish (Lophius americanus) supports one of the most valuable commercial fisheries in the northeastern United States.  Despite its commercial importance, aspects of the reproductive biology of goosefish are poorly understood. Information on reproductive timing, spawning distribution, oocyte development and potential batch fecundity are important in determining reproductive success and population resilience. In this study ovarian development was evaluated for goosefish (n = 183) collected by trawl-net from the Gulf of Maine to waters off Cape Hatteras, NC by the Northeast Fisheries Science Center’s 2009 Cooperative Monkfish Survey as well as by gill-net (n = 23) in 2010 off the Outer Banks, NC by a cooperating fishing industry partner. Ovarian histology was used to determine timing of spawning, potential spawning sites and evidence of serial spawning in goosefish in the northeastern US.