ABSTRACT
In terms of reproductive strategies, as in many other aspects of their biology, teleost fish are the most diversified of vertebrates. E. K. Balon has identified several types of behavioral strategies, depending upon the degree and type of the species’ parental involvement after fertilization. The reproductive periodicity of the species can be expected to be pronounced, at least in temporally variable environments. The reproductive cycles of many species each comprise a number of discrete stages of different duration. Despite the diversity of teleost reproductive strategies, an alternative system of classifying proximate control factors is proposed. Since there is a strong selective pressure to maximize fecundity by optimizing the timing of the sequential partitioning of energy intake between somatic and reproductive compartments, this favors relatively precise timing of gonadal cycles. The temperature is bound to influence reproduction in poikilotherms, if only in a permissive-cum-modifying role.
