Reproductive traits of the pompano, Trachinotus ovatus (Linnaeus, 1758), in the north-western Mediterranean

Abstract

This study describes for the first time the reproductive traits of the warm-water pompano, Trachinotus ovatus. Specimens were sampled from landings by artisanal fishing vessels in the NW Mediterranean. Monthly collections, from July 2010 through to September 2012, yielded 226 individuals (118 females and 108 males). The size at 50% maturity (L 50 ) was estimated at 30.9 and 29.1 cm TL for females and males, respectively. Specific reproductive traits, such as oocyte size-frequency distributions, presence of recent post-ovulatory follicles along with oocytes in the final phases of gonadal development, and massive atresia in post-spawning individuals, indicated that pompanos are multiple batch spawners with asynchronous oocyte development and indeterminate fecundity. Monthly variations in the gonadosomatic index and in the phases of gonadal development indicated July and August as the spawning season. There were also noticeable inter-annual variations in spawning phenology, mean diameters of the oocytes, relative batch fecundity and eggs quality, all of which corresponded to changes in sea surface temperatures. This study enhances our understanding of the need for research into the reproduction of warm-water species, which are currently expanding into the increasingly warmer waters of the world's more northerly seas and oceans. -M. (2013) Trophic structure in the Gulf of Lions marine ecosystem (north-western Mediterranean Sea) and fishing impacts. Journal of Marine Systems 111-112, 45-68. Batistić M., Tutman P., Bojanić D., Skaramuca B., Kožul V., Glavić N. and Bartulović V. (2005) Diet and diel feeding activity of juvenile reproduction of t. ovatus in the nw mediterranean harold villegas-herna ' ndez et al.

Age and growth of pompano, Trachinotus ovatus, from the Strait of Messina (central Mediterranean Sea)

“…Mourad (1999) investigated the relationship between age and otolith weight of a pompano population from Egyptian waters. Length-weight relationships were recorded for the northeastern Atlantic populations of T. ovatus (Morato et al 2001, Santos et al 2002, Oliveira et al 2015 and estimated for individuals caught in the eastern (Abdallah 2002, Moutopoulos et al 2013, Altin et al 2015 and northwestern Mediterranean Sea (Morey et al 2003, Villegas-Hernández et al 2016.…”

Reproductive biology of the white grunt, Haemulon plumierii, in the coastal waters of the northern Yucatán Peninsula

“…The histological study of the gonads of all individuals was carried out to determine the stages of development of their germ cells. Central portions (transverse sections) of the fixed gonads were dehydrated and embedded in paraffin, sectioned to between 5-7 µm, depending on their state of gonadal development because the early phases required thinner sections to facilitate the identification of their germ cells, and then stained with haematoxylin-eosin (Awruch et al, 2008;Villegas-Hernández et al, 2015). The reproductive phases of the gonads were classified in line with Brown-Peterson et al (2011) as immature (IMM), developing (DEV), spawning capable (SC), regressing (RGS), and regenerating (RGN).…”

“…The reproductive phases of the gonads were classified in line with Brown-Peterson et al (2011) as immature (IMM), developing (DEV), spawning capable (SC), regressing (RGS), and regenerating (RGN). It should be noticed that ovarian wall thickness has been recognized as a key factor in distinguishing between immature and regenerating phases, since a thin ovarian wall is commonly observed in immature specimens whereas a thick ovarian wall (along with atretic oocytes) was observed at specimens in the regenerating phase (Brown-Peterson et al, 2011;Villegas-Hernández et al, 2015). During the analysed annual cycle, the occurrence of spawning of H. plumierii was inferred with both the GSI peaks and the increased frequency of spawning capable specimens according to the reproductive phases (expressed in relative frequency) found throughout the year (Brown-Peterson et al, 2011;De Vlaming et al, 1982).…”

Reproductive biology of the southern pufferfish, Sphoeroides nephelus (Actinopterygii: Tetraodontiformes: Tetraodontidae), in the northern coast off the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

“…Central portions (transverse sections) of the fixed gonads were dehydrated and embedded in paraffin, sectioned at between 5-7 µm, depending on their state of gonadal development (early phases required thinner sections in order to facilitate the identification of their gametes, and then stained with haematoxylin-eosin (Awruch et al 2008, Villegas-Hernández et al 2016. Gonadal phases of development for females and males were classified following Brown-Peterson et al (2011) as immature, developing, spawning capable, regressing, and regenerating.…”

“…It should be noticed that in order to identify the gonadal phases, histological observation was applied to detect oocytes with a more advanced stages, whether primary growth (PG), cortical alveoli (CA), vitellogenic (Vtg1, Vtg2, Vtg3), germinal vesicle migration (GVM), or hydrated (H), independently of their frequency . Moreover, the ovarian wall thickness was considered a key factor in distinguishing between immature and regenerating phases, since a thin ovarian wall is commonly observed in immature specimens whereas a thick ovarian wall (along with atretic oocytes) was observed in specimens at the regenerating phase , Villegas-Hernández et al 2016). Prior to this, it was verified that the development of the oocytes was uniform throughout the gonad, performing three dissections of each lobe (anterior, middle and posterior sections) in ovaries of the same fish.…”