Gonadal Histology of Fishes
A committee of international scientists working with fish reproductive biology have organized several workshops focusing on aspects of fish reproductive biology. Summaries of presentations given at the Second Workshop on Gonadal Histology of Fishes, held in July 2005 in St. Petersburg, Florida and the Third Workshop on Gonadal Histology of Fishes held in July 2006 in New Orleans, Louisiana are available. The 4th Workshop on Gonadal Histology of Fishes, held in June 2009 in Cadiz, Spain included presentations and discussions on four major topics: female and male reproductive strategies and gametogenesis, reproductive phases as they relate to fecundity types, skipped spawning and abnormalities, temporal patterns of reproductive activity and terminology and methodologies. Extended abstracts of these presentations are published online.
A major emphasis of these workshops has been the development of terminology to describe reproductive classification of fishes, since existing terminology is inconsistent and confusing. A table outlining descriptions of each phase in male and female fishes is currently available for download and use.