Reproductive biology of the Salema, fish Sarpa salpa (Osteichthyes: Sparidae) along the eastern coast of Libya.

Abstract

In the current work, the overall ratio between males and females of Sarpa salpa was 1:0.32. The first sexual maturity of males was recorded at length group (21.1-24cm) by 66.6% and the female was recorded at length group (24.1-27) by 50%. Ovaries of S. salpa were examined. The smallest mature female had a total body length of 29 cm and 387.73 gm weight with absolute fecundity of 2,978,440 eggs. The largest female had total body length of 39 cm and body weight of 918.86 gm with absolute fecundity 1,685,729 eggs. Based on the results of maturity stages, gonadosomatic indices (G.S.I) and ova diameters, the study showed clearly that spawning season of S. salpa in the Libyan coast of the Mediterranean waters extends from October to December.

Age, growth and reproduction of the protandrous hermaphrodite fish, Sarpa salpa, from the Portuguese continental coast

“…El-Etreby et al . (2015) studied the fecundity of salema in Libya and found that the potential fecundity ranged from 22,952 to 15,123,096 oocytes and the relative fecundity ranged from 568 to 12,287 oocytes g −1 GW: these estimated ranges of both potential and relative fecundities were much larger than the ones obtained in the present study. These differences may be caused by the method of counting and by the different environmental conditions existing in each area where the individuals inhabit.…”

“…Different spawning periods have been described along the distribution area and in the present study salema spawns from September to November, which is similar with the results described for the Mediterranean Sea [Adriatic: September to October (Pallaoro et al ., 2008); western central coast of Italy: March to May and September to November (Criscoli et al ., 2006); Libyan coast: October to December (El-Etreby et al ., 2015)] but is different for the results obtained for the Canary archipelago which described a maximal gonadal activity between December and January (Villamil et al ., 2002). Nevertheless, in the east coast of South Africa the spawning season of salema extended from March to September, with a reproductive peak from April to August (Walt & Mann, 1998).…”

“…Until now, investigation on salema occurred mainly in the Mediterranean Sea and in the Indian Ocean, focusing on feeding habits (Gerking, 1984; Antolic et al ., 1994; Havelange et al ., 1997), spatial distribution (Dulčić et al ., 1997; Ruitton et al ., 2000; Jadot et al ., 2006), and growth and reproductive biology (e.g. Walt & Beckley, 1997; Walt & Mann, 1998; Criscoli et al ., 2006; Pallaoro et al ., 2008; El-Etreby et al ., 2015). The information on the species in the Atlantic Ocean is restricted to one study from the Canary Archipelago (Villamil et al ., 2002) focused on the biology, and age and growth.…”

Tropicalization shifts herbivore pressure from seagrass to rocky reef communities

“…At the other end of the spectrum, the declining abundance of S. salpa from west to east is consistent with temperatures being too warm, particularly at its trailing edge in Cyprus. Reproduction and recruitment in S. salpa occurs during late autumn-winter [57] and warm edge populations have a narrow phenological window that is linked to minimum winter temperatures [58]. Winter temperatures in Cyprus have warmed by over 2°C in the past four decades, potentially having negative effects on S. salpa reproduction, recruitment and population size.…”