Hostname: page-component-55f67697df-zpzq9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-05-25T02:48:42.475Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Observations on the reproductive biology of three catsharks (Carcharhiniformes: Scyliorhinidae: Asymbolus and Figaro) from the continental shelf of southern Queensland, Australia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 October 2010

Peter M. Kyne ,
Anthony J. Courtney  and
Michael B. Bennett
Peter M. Kyne*
Affiliation:
School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, 4072, Australia
Anthony J. Courtney
Affiliation:
Southern Fisheries Centre, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, Deception Bay, Queensland, 4508, Australia
Michael B. Bennett
Affiliation:
School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, 4072, Australia
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Peter M. Kyne, Tropical Rivers and Coastal Knowledge, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Northern Territory, 0909, Australia email: peter.kyne@cdu.edu.au
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Three species of Australian endemic catsharks (grey spotted catshark Asymbolus analis, orange spotted catshark A. rubiginosus and Australian sawtail shark Figaro boardmani) were collected from the trawl grounds of a highly seasonal commercial fishery off southern Queensland, Australia. Specimens were collected on the mid to outer continental shelf at depths between 78 and 168 m. This study provides the first information on the reproductive biology of these three poorly-known species. Mature female and male A. analis were observed from 455 mm total length (TL), mature female A. rubiginosus from 410 mm TL, mature male A. rubiginosus from 405 mm TL, mature female F. boardmani from 402 mm TL and mature male F. boardmani from 398 mm TL (although a lack of immature specimens precluded more accurate assessments of size at maturity). The reproductive mode of all species was confirmed as single oviparous (carrying only one egg case in each uterus at a time). Ovarian fecundity (the number of vitellogenic follicles) ranged from 7–20 in A. analis, 5–23 in A. rubiginosus and 9–13 in F. boardmani. Several indicators suggest that Asymbolus catsharks off southern Queensland are reproductively active year-round. The proportion of female A. rubiginosus carrying egg cases was highest in spring (60%), intermediate in autumn (50%) and lowest in winter (44%).

Keywords

ScyliorhinidaeAsymbolus analisAsymbolus rubiginosusFigaro boardmaniQueenslandEast Coast Trawl Fisherysize at maturityreproductive seasonality
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 91 , Special Issue 6: Fish Ecology , September 2011 , pp. 1157 - 1164
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

REFERENCES

Awruch, C.A., Pankhurst, N.W., Frusher, S.D. and Stevens, J.D. (2008) Endocrine and morphological correlates of reproduction in the draughtboard shark Cephaloscyllium laticeps (Elasmobranchii: Scyliorhinidae). Journal of Experimental Zoology 309A, 184–197.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Awruch, C.A., Pankhurst, N.W., Frusher, S.D. and Stevens, J.D. (2009) Reproductive seasonality and embryo development in the draughtboard shark Cephaloscyllium laticeps. Marine and Freshwater Research 60, 1265–1272.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Capapé, C., Tomasini, J.A. and Bouchereau, J.L. (1991) Observations sur la biologie de la reproduction de la petite roussett Scyliorhinus canicula (Linnaeus, 1758) (Pisces, Scyliorhinidae) de Golfe du Lion (France Méridionale). Ichtyophysiologica Acta 14, 87–109.Google Scholar
Capapé, C., Guélorget, O., Vergne, Y. and Reynaud, C. (2008) Reproductive biology of the blackmouth catshark, Galeus melastomus (Chondrichthyes: Scyliorhinidae) off the Languedocian coast (southern France, northern Mediterranean). Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 88, 415–421.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Castro, J.I., Bubucis, P.M. and Overstrom, N.A. (1988) The reproductive biology of the chain dogfish, Scyliorhinus retifer. Copeia 1988, 740–746.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Compagno, L.J.V. (2005) Global checklist of living chondrichthyan fishes. In Fowler, S.L., Cavanagh, R.D., Camhi, M., Burgess, G.H., Cailliet, G.M., Fordham, S.V., Simpfendorfer, C.A. and Musick, J.A. (eds) Sharks, rays and chimaeras: the status of the chondrichthyan fishes. Status survey. Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK: IUCN, pp. 401–423.Google Scholar
Compagno, L., Dando, M. and Fowler, S. (2005) A field guide to sharks of the world. London: Harper Collins.Google Scholar
Costa, M.E., Erzini, K. and Borges, T.C. (2005) Reproductive biology of the blackmouth catshark, Galeus melastomus (Chondrichthyes: Scyliorhinidae) off the south coast of Portugal. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 85, 1173–1183.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Courtney, A.J., Haddy, J.A., Campbell, M.J., Roy, D.P., Tonks, M.L., Gaddes, S.W., Chilcott, K.E., O'Neill, M.F., Brown, I.W., McLennan, M., Jebreen, E.J., van der Geest, C., Rose, C., Kistle, S., Turnbull, C.T., Kyne, P.M., Bennett, M.B. and Taylor, J. (2007) Bycatch weight, composition and preliminary estimates of the impact of bycatch reduction devices in Queensland's trawl fishery. Final Report FRDC Project No. 2000/170, 307 pp.Google Scholar
Cross, J.N. (1988) Aspects of the biology of two scyliorhinid sharks, Apristurus brunneus and Parmaturus xaniurus, from the upper continental slope off southern California. Fishery Bulletin 86, 691–702.Google Scholar
Ebert, D.A., Compagno, L.J.V. and Cowley, P.D. (2006) Reproductive biology of catsharks (Chondrichthyes: Scyliorhinidae) off the west coast of southern Africa. ICES Journal of Marine Science 63, 1053–1065.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ellis, J.R. and Shackley, S.E. (1997) The reproductive biology of Scyliorhinus canicula in the Bristol Channel, U.K. Journal of Fish Biology 51, 361–372.Google Scholar
Flammang, B.E., Ebert, D.A. and Cailliet, G.M. (2008) Reproductive biology of deep-sea catsharks (Chondrichthyes: Scyliorhinidae) in the eastern North Pacific. Environmental Biology of Fishes 81, 35–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Francis, M.P. (2006) Distribution and biology of the New Zealand endemic catshark, Halaelurus dawsoni. Environmental Biology of Fishes 75, 295–306.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Horie, T. and Tanaka, S. (2000) Reproduction and food habits of two species of sawtail catsharks, Galeus eastmani and G. nipponensis, in Suruga Bay, Japan. Fisheries Science 66, 812–825.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kyne, P.M. and Simpfendorfer, C.A. (2010) Deepwater chondrichthyans. In Carrier, J.C., Musick, J.A. and Heithaus, M.R. (eds) Sharks and their relatives II: Biodiversity, adaptive physiology, and conservation. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, pp. 37–114.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kyne, P.M., Johnson, J.W., Courtney, A.J. and Bennett, M.B. (2005) New biogeographical information on Queensland chondrichthyans. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 50, 321–327.Google Scholar
Last, P.R. and Stevens, J.D. (1994) Sharks and rays of Australia. Hobart: CSIRO Division of Fisheries.Google Scholar
Last, P.R. and Stevens, J.D. (2009) Sharks and rays of Australia. 2nd edition. Collingwood: CSIRO Publishing.Google Scholar
Last, P.R., Gomon, M.F. and Gledhill, D.C. (1999) Australian spotted catsharks of the genus Asymbolus (Carcharhiniformes: Scyliorhinidae). Part 2: descriptions of three new, dark-spotted species. In Last, P.R. (ed.) Australian catsharks of the genus Asymbolus (Carcharhiniformes: Scyliorhinidae). Hobart: CSIRO Division of Marine Research, pp. 19–35. [CSIRO Marine Laboratories Report, No. 239.]Google Scholar
Mellinger, J. (1983) Egg-case diversity among dogfish, Scyliorhinus canicula (L.): a study of egg laying rate and nidamental gland secretory activity. Journal of Fish Biology 22, 83–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nakaya, K. (1975) Taxonomy, comparative anatomy and phylogeny of Japanese catsharks, Scyliorhinidae. Memoirs of the Faculty of Fisheries, Hokkaido University 23, 1–94.Google Scholar
Richardson, A.J., Maharaj, G., Compagno, L.J.V., Leslie, R.W., Ebert, D.A. and Gibbons, M.J. (2000) Abundance, distribution, morphometrics, reproduction and diet of the Izak catshark. Journal of Fish Biology 56, 552–576.CrossRefGoogle Scholar