Abstract:Based on the biological data (n=168) collected in the southern Atlantic Ocean off Argentina during December 2009 to January 2010, the present study analyzed the biological characteristics of Southwest Atlantic butterfish (Stromateus brasiliensis) in the Austral Summer, including total length (LT), fork length (LF), the relationship between LT and WB, sex ratio, sexual maturity and gonadsomatic index. The results showed that: (1) The LT ranged from 23.6 to 34.2 cm with dominating LT of 24.0 to 28.0 cm, the LF ranged from 21.6 to 30.3 cm with dominating LS of 22.0 to 26.0 cm. The relationship between LT and LS was LT=1.141 1LF-6.770 2 (R2=0.962 6). (2) The relationship between LT and WB was WB=3×10-5 LT2.878 9 (R2=0.924 4). (3) The ratio of female to male for Southwest Atlantic butterfish was 1∶0.3. (4) The sexual maturity of Southwest Atlantic butterfish were Stage Ⅱ or Ⅲ during December to January. Significant difference can be found for the sexual maturity of Southwest Atlantic butterfish among LT classes (χ2=104.86, P<0.05). (5) The gonadsomatic index was increased with the increasing of fork length and the gonadsomatic index ranged from 1.05 to 8.33.