How does fecundity scale with female size? Female size not only affects the number and size of offspring released in any one reproductive bout (i.e. batch fecundity) but also affects frequency of bouts that occur within a given spawning season (i.e. spawning frequency). Previous studies have noted contrasting effects of female size on spawning frequency such that the effect of female size on reproductive output and total egg production of a population remains unclear. If smaller females spawn more frequently, this could effectively nullify hyperallometry—the disproportionate contribution of larger females to batch fecundity. Here, we explore the relationship between female size and spawning frequency in marine fishes and test this relationship while controlling for phylogeny. Within all of the species considered, spawning frequency scaled positively with body size. Comparing across species, the smallest species showed steeper scaling than the largest. Considering only batch fecundity scaling probably underestimates the relationship between body size and absolute fecundity for many species; reproduction is likely to be more hyperallometric than is currently appreciated based on batch fecundity estimates. Second, an understanding of fecundity scaling depends on estimates of batch fecundity, spawning frequency and spawning duration—we have far more estimates of the first parameter than we do the others, and more studies are required.

中文翻译：

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海洋鱼类的产卵频率如何随体型变化？

繁殖力如何随女性大小而变化？雌性大小不仅影响在任何一次生殖回合中释放的后代的数量和大小（即批量繁殖力），而且还影响在给定产卵季节内发生的回合频率（即产卵频率）。以前的研究已经注意到雌性大小对产卵频率的对比影响，因此雌性大小对种群生殖产量和总产卵量的影响仍不清楚。如果较小的雌性更频繁地产卵，这可以有效地抵消超异速妊娠——较大的雌性对批量繁殖力的不成比例的贡献。在这里，我们探讨了雌性大小与海洋鱼类产卵频率之间的关系，并在控制系统发育的同时测试了这种关系。在所有考虑的物种中，产卵频率与体型成正比。跨物种比较，最小的物种比最大的物种更陡峭。仅考虑批量繁殖力缩放可能低估了许多物种的体型和绝对繁殖力之间的关系；繁殖可能比目前基于批量繁殖力估计的估计更超异速。其次，对繁殖力缩放的理解取决于对批次繁殖力、产卵频率和产卵持续时间的估计——我们对第一个参数的估计比其他参数要多得多，还需要更多的研究。仅考虑批量繁殖力缩放可能低估了许多物种的体型和绝对繁殖力之间的关系；繁殖可能比目前基于批量繁殖力估计的估计更超异速。其次，对繁殖力缩放的理解取决于对批次繁殖力、产卵频率和产卵持续时间的估计——我们对第一个参数的估计比其他参数要多得多，还需要更多的研究。仅考虑批量繁殖力缩放可能低估了许多物种的体型和绝对繁殖力之间的关系；繁殖可能比目前基于批量繁殖力估计的估计更超异速。其次，对繁殖力缩放的理解取决于对批次繁殖力、产卵频率和产卵持续时间的估计——我们对第一个参数的估计比其他参数要多得多，还需要更多的研究。