Characteristics of maturation and recruitment of the sand smelt, Atherina boyeri, from the Mala Neretva River estuary in the southeastern Adriatic, Croatia in 2001/2, are presented. The average gonadosomatic index (GSI) during a 12-month period was 1.59% for females and 2.1% for males. The highest value was in April, 5.4% for females and 4.7% for males. The smallest mature female was 5.2 cm total length. Fifty percent of the females were mature at 7.75 cm total length. New juveniles began to recruit in June and July and later appeared in fewer numbers. In general, the GSI was lower than in other sand smelt populations. The reasons are difficult to determine but might be partly explained by the high and unpredictable temperature and salinity variations in the researched area that have led to previously described disturbances of the sand smelt life cycle, as in feeding and a high incidence of spinal deformities.Prikazane su karakteristike dozrijevanja i novačenja olige, Atherina boyeri na ušću Male Neretve, na srednjem dijelu istočne obale Jadrana, Hrvatska u 2001 i 2002. Prosječni gonadosomatski indeks tijekom 12-mjesečnog razdoblja za ženke je iznosio 1,59%, a za mužjake 2,1%. Najveća vrijednost je bila u travnju, za ženke 5,4%, a za mužjake 4,7%. Najmanja zrela ženka je zabilježena pri ukupnoj dužini 5,2 cm, a 50% ženki je bilo zrelo pri ukupnoj dužini 7,75 cm. Nova mlađ se počinje novačiti u lipnju i srpnju, a pojavljuje se i kasnije, ali u manjem broju. Vrijednosti GSI su uglavnom manje nego kod ostalih istraživanih populacija olige. Teško je zaključiti koji je razlog, ali djelomično se može objasniti velikim i nepredvidljivim kolebanjima temperature i slanosti, kod kojih su već opisani različiti poremećaji životnog ciklusa olige na istraživanom području, u ishrani i visokoj učestalosti deformacija kralješnice
