Growth and reproduction ofChelidonichthys lucerna(Linnaeus) (Pisces: Triglidae) in the Gulf of Gabès, Tunisia

Abstract

Summary Growth and reproduction of Chelidonichthys lucerna is reported from Tunisian waters. A total of 286 specimens was collected from landings of bottom trawlers between January 2003 and November 2004. The total length ranged from 16 to 36 cm in females and from 17 to 26 cm in males. Marginal increment analysis of otoliths showed that the translucent zone was laid from October to May and the opaque zone laid from June to September. Females were from 0.5 to 9 years and males from 1 to 7 years old. Growth parameters of the von Bertalanffy growth function were TL∞ = 40.26; K = 0.06 and t0 = −3.03 in females and TL∞ = 46.16; K = 0.059 and t0 = −1.32 in males. The coefficient of the allometric length–weight relationships differed significantly by sex. Females with mature gonads were observed between October and May, with peaks in January and February. Length at which 50% of specimens were mature was 21.6 cm TL (estimated age about 3 years) in females and 19.2 cm TL (estimated age about 1.5 years) in males.

Antioxidant enzymes in the liver of Chelidonichthys obscurus from the Montenegrin coastline

“…Maturation of gonads in female gurnards in the Mediterranean takes place from October to May. In January and February more than 80% of females were sexually mature, while from June to September no mature females were observed [14].…”

Distribution and Biological Features of the African Armoured Searobin,<I> Peristedion Cataphractum</I> (Actinopterygii: Scorpaeniformes: Peristediidae), Off the Southern Coasts of Sicily (Mediterranean Sea)

“…The logistic approach has evidenced a slight precocious maturity in females (L m = 191 mm) than males (L m = 212 mm), maybe the only result in contrast with the general pattern observed in triglids (Papaconstantinou 1984, Baron 1985, McPhail et al 2001, Boudaya et al 2008. However, this size differential in the African armoured searobin would correspond to less than 1 year of age on the base of the average lengths at 2-3 years observed by Pizzicori et al (1995) (185-225 mm; LBMs) and Mytilineou et al (2004) (176-213 mm; otholits readings).…”

“…Similarly to the other large sized Mediterranean searobin (Table 6), the upper and lower depth limits might be individuated around 50 and 900 m, respectively. Unfortunately, no specific comparison can be done for the depth-size relation, but among the other searobins it has been reported for 3 species (Chelidonichthys lucernus, C. obscurus and Lepidotrigla cavillone) (Papaconstantinou 1982, Campillo 1992, Colloca et al 1997, Faltas and Abdallah 1997, Serena et al 1998, Marano et al 1999, Voliani et al 2000, Ceriola et al 2004, İşmen et al 2004, Eryılmaz and Meriç 2005, Uçkun 2005, İlhan and Toğulga 2007, Boudaya et al 2008, Cicek et al 2008, Froese and Pauly 2009, Ragonese and Bianchini 2010. Sexual differentiation represents another matter of discussion, but also for this aspect both grey literature (Pizzicori unpublished*) and published data (Pizzicori et al 1995, Mytilineou et al 2004 indicate an overall First of all, the sex ratio fluctuates around 0.5 according to the season and the location, a pattern quite similar to other triglids (Table 6 and Papaconstantinou 1981Papaconstantinou , 1983.…”

“…In particular, the synopsis was based on the information gathered from Marano et al 1999, Voliani et al 2000, İlhan and Toğulga 2007, Cicek et al 2008, Boudaya et al 2008, Froese and Pauly 2009, Ragonese and Bianchini 2010.…”

Comparison between Otoliths and Length Based Ageing and Growth of African Armoured Searobin (Peristedion cataphractumL. 1758; Teleostei, Peristediidae) off the Southern Coasts of Sicily (Mediterranean Sea)

“…The differences between sex and sex categories were tested by an analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). Putative ages were assigned assuming that one opaque and one translucent zone are formed each year [12] as the general case for triglids [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20] and other deep demersal Mediterranean stocks [21]. The fish length at which different zones were deposited was back-calculated using the following equation [22]:…”