Plasma estradiol-17β (E2), testosterone (T), 17α,20β-dihydroxy-4-pregnen-3-one (DHP) and 17α,20β,21-tri-hydroxy-4-pregnen-3-one (20β-S) levels were measured by radioimmunoassay (RIA) in white perch (Morone americana) and white bass (M. chrysops) that were induced to undergo final oocyte maturation (FOM) with human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). Plasma DHP levels increased in females of both species in association with oocyte germinal vesicle migration (GVM) and germinal vesicle breakdown (GVBD) and decreased thereafter. Plasma 20β-S levels also increased with oocyte GVM in white bass, but were several-fold lower than DHP levels. Circulating E2 and T levels were greatest during GVM and GVBD in both species and decreased to low levels during oocyte hydration and ovulation. Follicles from white perch and white bass which received a priming injection of hCG in vivo, produced both DHP and 20β-S in vitro after exposure to hCG and their oocytes underwent GVBD. Ovarian incubates from unprimed fish of either species produced only E2 and T and their oocytes did not complete GVBD. Oocytes from unprimed bass, but not perch, matured when follicles were exposed to hCG in vitro. Both trilostane and cycloheximide blocked in vitro production of DHP and 20β-S and oocyte GVBD by white perch follices. DHP and 20β-S were equipotent inducers of FOM in the GVBD bioassay. None of several other structurally-related steroids tested were effective within a physiological range of concentrations. These results indicate a role for DHP and 20β-S in the control of FOM in white perch and white bass.