title: The relative gonadal index: an alternative index for quantification of reproductive condition.
abstract: Gonadal indices (i.e. GSI = gonadal wt/body wt X 100) commonly are used to quantify reproductive condition in fishes. These indices may be inappropriate with specimens of different sizes, however, for gonadal growth often is allometric. A new gonadal index (relative gonadal index, RGI) was developed to quantify the reproductive condition of animals independent of body size. The RGI is based on the underlying model W = alpha i X S beta i, where W is gonadal weight, S is body size (less gonadal weight if body weight is used), and alpha i and beta i are parameters to be estimated for gonadal developmental stage i. Assuming that a multiplicative lognormal error is appropriate, parameter estimates for alpha i and beta i were obtained by linear least squares regression for the log-transformed model ln(W) = beta i X ln(S) + ln(alpha i), where, in this form, beta i is the slope and ln(alpha i) is the intercept. Only if estimates of beta i do not differ significantly among ovarian developmental stages, as in our case, can a pooled estimate of beta be used to obtain the relative gonadal index, RGI = alpha i = W/S beta. Applicability of the RGI was tested using ovaries of three ecologically distinct fish species. The RGI was found to be more appropriate than the gonosomatic index for all three species.
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Erickson
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Hightower
authors.forename: G D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Grossman
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight; D005260:Female; D005399:Fishes; D009865:Oocytes / Q000166:cytology; D009929:Organ Size; D010053:Ovary / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000254:growth & development*; D012098:Reproduction; D012741:Sexual Maturation; D013045:Species Specificity