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<br />.. .~ <br /> <br />o <br />c...."') <br />:'.~f <br />~--~. <br /> <br />Weights offemales at days 3D, 58, 184, 215, and 245 (but not at days 90, 120, and 153) <br /> <br />were significantly lower than those at day 0, and their weight at day 245 was lower than those at <br /> <br />~,") <br /> <br />all other days (Table 6). These results showed that females Jost weight during the first 58 days <br /> <br />of exposure and during the depuration period following the spawning trials, For males, only <br /> <br />mean weight at day 245 was lower than that at test initiation. Regardless of sex, none of the fish <br /> <br />exhibited a significant weight gain during the study relative to day 0, At day 153, only 16 of35 <br /> <br />(46%) females and 10 of 19 (53%) males had weights numerically equal to or higher than those <br /> <br />at test initiation. Differences in body weight at day 153 compared to day 0 ranged from -7.5 to <br /> <br />17.1 % in females and -13.8 to 12.2% in males, <br /> <br />Differences in total length of males and females over time were small, but were <br /> <br />statistically significant (Table 6). In both sexes, total length generally increased from day 58 to <br /> <br />day 120 of exposure. However, the largest average increase in length from day 0 was only 10 <br /> <br />mm for females and 8 mm for males, Moreover, some of the variation in total length may be <br /> <br />partly due to errors in measuring the fish, The fish were not anesthetized during growth <br /> <br />sampling, and when handled, some fish would struggle continuously and were not in a relaxed <br /> <br />condition on the measuring board, This factor was probably not a source of error in measuring <br /> <br />body weights, because only stable readings (usually obtained within 10 seconds) were recorded. <br /> <br />Condition factors for both sexes at all sample days were significantly lower than those at <br /> <br />day 0, except for males at days 30 and 153 (Table 6). As was observed for weight, the <br /> <br />magnitude of reduction in condition factors during the depuration period compared to day 0 was <br /> <br />greater in females than in males. Although some of the variation in condition factors may be <br /> <br />partly attributable to errors in measuring total length (discussed above), the effect of these errors <br /> <br />on the trends observed was believed to be minimal. <br /> <br />31 <br />