Estratégia reprodutiva do peixe voador, Hirundichthys affinis Günther (Osteichthyes, Exocoetidae)

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Reproductive strategy of the t1ying fish, Hirulldichthys a/flllis Gunther (Osteichthyes, Exocoetidae). This study was carried out to investigate the reproductive aspects of the flying fish, Hirundichthys affinis Günther, 1866 considering their importance in the fish production of the Rio Grande do Norte State, Brazil. Fish samples were collected from the Municipality ofCaiçara do Norte, northem coast of the state, during the period of April, 1999 to April , 2000. The fish were meas ured, weighed, dissected and the gonads were examined to separate the sex and to determine the stage of maturation. Histol ogical studies were done for microsco pic characteri zation of the gonads. The results indicated that H. afJinis had a sexual proportion of I: I: condition factor was inversely related to the gonadosomatic index during the reproductive phase; and the highest for both sexes was registered during the breeding season. Males and fe males showed fou r devolopmental stages of the gonads: immature, initial maturation, matu re and spent. Absolute fec undity varied from 4400 to 6400 oocytes, with a mean of 5400. The species presents total spawing and the spawing season occurred in lhe months of May and June. The rainy season preceeded the occurrence of breeding fl ying fishes in the coastal waters of Caiçara do Norte. KEY WORDS . Flying fish. reproductive strategy, gonadal development Estratégia reprodutiva engloba um conjunto de características que determinadas espécies de peixes desenvolvem para serem bem suced idas na reprod ução. Várias táticas reprod utivas modulam um a estratégia reprodutiva (POTTS & W OO-TTON 1984 ; V AZZOLER 1996). Cada espécie apresenta sua distribuição estabelecida por um conjun to de condições ecológ icas, com adaptações anatômicas, fisiológicas , comportamentais e energéticas específicas. Dessa form a, cada espéc ie deve ap resentar uma única estratégia reprod uti va. Porém, quando as condições amb ientais variam , determinando mudanças em alguma característi ca da estratégia, essa va riação denomina-se tática reprod uti va, ou seja, característica vari ável no padrão , em respostas à flutuações do ambiente e portanto a estratégia e a tática são adaptati vas (WOOTTON 1984). O sucesso alcançado pelos peixes nos mai s distintos ambi entes deve-se à enorme quantidade de estratégias reproduti vas desenvolvidas pelo grupo, englobando táticas extremas.Quando a quantidade de energia é retida na reprodução, as espéc ies são consideradas r-estrategistas, o que pode ser veri ficado em ambientes instáveis , onde a melhor estratég ia é utilizar o máximo de recursos na reprodução, e produzir o maior número possível de descendentes. Os peixes considerados r-estrategistas

Reproductive aspects of the flyingfish, Hirundichthys affinis from the Northeastern coastal waters of Brazil

“…The immature individuals frequently occur in the oceanic region and only the adults migrate to the coastal waters for breeding. However, the effect of the selectivity of the fishing gear employed cannot be ruled out (Araújo and Chellappa, 2002). The absence of individuals less than 19 cm and greater than 24.5cm of the same species, in the Caribbean coastal waters, was due to the same reason (Khokiattiwong et al, 2000).…”

“…The females are usually heavier than the males due to their gonads which tend to have a greater mass in relation to the testicles (Araújo and Chellappa, 2002;Murua et al, 2003). For the same species in the Caribbean, it was observed that the average length of males and females was not different when fish were immature, but later the females grew faster than males and became larger and heavier (Khokiattiwong et al, 2000).…”

“…Although the flesh of H. affinis is of a good quality, it is frequently used as bait to capture larger predatory fish species, but their eggs are marketed for the production of local caviar. Besides their commercial importance, the flying fishes are crucial components in the epipelagic food chain, where they are preferred prey of predators, such as, Coryphaena hippurus, Thunnus albacares, Tetrapturus albidus, Makaira nigricans and Prionace glauca which are of high commercial value (Araújo and Chellappa, 2002;Parin, 1960).…”

Aspectos reproductivos de la lisa Mugil curema (Mugiliformes: Mugilidae) en la laguna costera de Barra de Navidad, Jalisco, Mexico

“…Aunque lo anterior parece ser una generalidad, también se ha observado que las hembras maduran un poco antes que los machos en M. curema (Ibáñez-Aguirre & Gallardo-Cabello, 2004;Oliveira et al, 2011b). Araújo & Chellappa (2002) han señalado que diferencias en la condición corporal de hembras y machos pueden indicar una respuesta adaptativa fenotípica a cambios ambientales en las costas del trópico. Y en un sentido más amplio, la talla de maduración sexual puede ser afectada por factores genéticos, fisiológicos y ambientales (Nikolsky, 1963).…”

The first record of the eggs of black wing flyingfish Hirundichthys rondeletii (Valenciennes, 1846) in the Turkish nearshores of the Aegean Sea (Gümüldür)

“…Representatives of the family Exocoetidae are distributed in tropical and subtropical waters around the world (Oxenford et al, 1995;Monteiro et al, 1998;Parin, 2002;Savaliev et al, 2014). In addition to their commercial value, flyingfish are crucial components in the epipelagic food chain, where they are the preferred prey of predators such as Coryphaena hippurus, Thunnus thynnus, Thunnus albacares, Tetrapturus albidus, Makaira nigricans, and Prionace glauca, which are of high commercial value (Parin, 1968;Pinkas, 1971;Massutí et al, 1998;Araújo and Chellappa, 2002). Moreover, pelagic seabirds from the family Laridae are also known to feed on flyingfish (Hensley and Hensley, 1995).…”