TEMPORAL PATTERNS OF REPRODUCTION IN THE RED-SEA DAMSELFISH AMBLYGLYPHIDODON LEUCOGASTER

The seasonal, lunar and diurnal spawning patterns of the Red Sea white belly damselfish Amblyglyphidodon leucogaster were investigated in Eil at, Israel over 3 years. Males were permanently territorial and defend ed a specific nest site, while females moved about the study site. All reproductive activity was confined to a distinct breeding season from May to September. Spawning activity exhibited no lunar periodicity an d occurred each day of the lunar month. Diurnal spawning activity tend to be concentrated around sunrise but spawning occurred throughout th e day. Females spawned asynchronously and were capable of laying a bat ch of eggs every second day. Spawning generally involved a single male and female, but mating involving multiple females also occurred. Fema les were promiscuous and mated with as many as 15 different males. Mal es brooded from one to eight clutches of eggs in the nest at one time. Brood cycles lasted from 6 to 12 days and males completed a number of brood cycles per season. Eggs were defended by the male for 5-8 days prior to hatching. The pattern of spawning exhibited by A. leucogaster appears to be inconsistent with larval biology hypotheses. Factors af fecting adult biology may control reproduction on each time scale.