Seasonal reproduction of sailfish Istiophorus platypterus from the southeast Mexican Pacific

Quantitative histology was used to analyse the seasonal reproductive characteristics of the Istiophorus platypterus sailfish obtained from bycatch and recreational catches in the southeast Mexican Pacific. The analysis revealed five stages of ovarian development, eight kinds of oocytes, and one post...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Marine biology research 2013-05, Vol.9 (4), p.407-420
Main Authors: Cerdenares-Ladrón De Guevara, Genoveva, Morales-Bojórquez, Enrique, Rodríguez-Jaramillo, Carmen, Hernández-Herrera, Agustín, Abitia-Cárdenas, Andrés
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Gulf of Tehuantepec
Istiophorus platypterus
Marine
oocyte cohort analysis
oocyte development
sailfish reproduction
Size at sexual maturity
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Summary:Quantitative histology was used to analyse the seasonal reproductive characteristics of the Istiophorus platypterus sailfish obtained from bycatch and recreational catches in the southeast Mexican Pacific. The analysis revealed five stages of ovarian development, eight kinds of oocytes, and one postovulation structure. The species shows an asynchronous ovary development and indeterminate fecundity. Gonadosomatic indices (GSI) indicated that sailfish have a reproductive period with peaks in September and October (mean monthly GSI=1.9 and 1.8). Females were more abundant during the second quarter, whereas males were more abundant in the third and fourth quarters. We found that the estimates of the frequency distribution of whole oocytes showed that this analysis may be useful as a tool to assess maturity. The estimated size at sexual maturity for this species in the Gulf of Tehuantepec was 150.2 cm eye-fork length.
ISSN:1745-1000
1745-1019
DOI:10.1080/17451000.2012.742545