PUBERTY OF TWO SPECIES OF FLOUNDER (PLEURONECTES QUADRITUBERCULATUS AND LIMANDA ASPERA) (PLEURONECTIDAE) OFF THE COASTS OF SOUTH-EASTERN KAMCHATKA

Abstract

The paper presents the characteristics of sexual maturation of the yellowfin sole Limanda aspera and the lemon sole Pleuronectes quadrituberculatus off the coast of southeastern Kamchatka in 1959–2020. The proportion of mature fish depending on the length was analyzed on the basis of empirical and theoretical data, the dynamics of maturation of the gonads of males and females of two flounders by months was characterized. In the Pacific waters of Kamchatka, males and females of the yellowfin sole mature at a smaller size than in the eastern part of the Bering Sea and at a larger size than off the coast of Western Kamchatka. Mass maturation of lemon sole takes place first in the eastern part of the Bering Sea, then near southeastern Kamchatka, and lastly on the western Kamchatka shelf.