The spawning pattern of the sardine (
Sardinella aurita
) was determined by the analysis of gonad development. Samples were collected from commercial catches between January and December 1999. Frequency distributions of oocytes were developed from measurements of oocytes in histological sections of the gonads. Oocyte distributions revealed four groups of development, 50-200μ, 200-300 μ, 300 - 500 μ and > 500 μ. The developmental stages observed were perinucleolar, previtellogenic, and vitellogenic. The different developmental stages observed in mature gonads and the absence of a gap between immature and mature oocytes implies that
S. aurita has an indeterminate fecundity pattern. Mature and spawned female fish were present during all year, with peaks in january - march and in september - november.