Egg question for the biologist

I'm not from KS but I'd like to ask a question or two about fish physiology. Do female crappie "lay out" all the visible eggs in the egg case or will there usually be some left? My training is in avian and mammalian physiology so I'm not sure if eggs in fish are the same or not. I don't know if fish have a finite number of undeveloped eggs in them like mammals and birds do.

The reason I ask is that at least half the crappie that my son and I caught yesterday had eggs in them. Most were either undeveloped or being absorbed. I couldn't tell which. If they were being absorbed I was curious to know if that particular fish did not spawn at all, or if they can partially spawn.

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Originally Posted by FurFlyin

I'm not from KS but I'd like to ask a question or two about fish physiology. Do female crappie "lay out" all the visible eggs in the egg case or will there usually be some left? My training is in avian and mammalian physiology so I'm not sure if eggs in fish are the same or not. I don't know if fish have a finite number of undeveloped eggs in them like mammals and birds do.

The reason I ask is that at least half the crappie that my son and I caught yesterday had eggs in them. Most were either undeveloped or being absorbed. I couldn't tell which. If they were being absorbed I was curious to know if that particular fish did not spawn at all, or if they can partially spawn.

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FurFlyin,

A "spawned out" crappie will have some leftover eggs in the ovaries which are resorbed.

Crappie are intermittent spawners laying eggs multiple times in multiple nests so it's possible to catch partially spawned females. If spawning conditions are poor a female crappie may not spawn at all that particular year.

Hope this answers your questions!

Craig

Thanks for the reply. Yes it did answer my questions.