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Some aspects of the reproductive biology of albacore Thunnus alalunga from the western Mediterranean Sea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 March 2015

Sámar Saber ,
Josetxu Ortiz de Urbina ,
María José Gómez-Vives  and
David Macías
Sámar Saber*
Affiliation:
Departamento de Biología Animal, Universidad de Málaga, 29071 Málaga, Spain
Josetxu Ortiz de Urbina
Affiliation:
Instituto Español de Oceanografía, Centro Oceanográfico de Málaga, Puerto pesquero s/n, 29640 Fuengirola (Málaga), Spain
María José Gómez-Vives
Affiliation:
Instituto Español de Oceanografía, Centro Oceanográfico de Málaga, Puerto pesquero s/n, 29640 Fuengirola (Málaga), Spain
David Macías
Affiliation:
Instituto Español de Oceanografía, Centro Oceanográfico de Málaga, Puerto pesquero s/n, 29640 Fuengirola (Málaga), Spain
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: S. Saber, Departamento de Biología Animal, Universidad de Málaga, 29071 Málaga, Spain email: samar.saber@uma.es
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Abstract

Thunnus alalunga is an important commercial tuna species widely distributed in the three major oceans and the Mediterranean Sea. The Mediterranean population is currently classified as a data-poor stock and little is known about its basic life history parameters. This study provides the first detailed information on some aspects of the reproductive biology of T. alalunga from the western Mediterranean Sea. A total of 16 104 specimens were measured between 2005 and 2012. The overall sex ratio of females to males was 1.1:1, although the ratio was female biased in fish <70 cm fork length (LF) and male biased in those >75 cm LF. Histological analysis of the ovaries (N = 587) and the monthly variation of the gonadosomatic index for both sexes showed that spawning occurred from June to August, which is a much shorter period than the 7 months reported for T. alalunga in tropical oceanic waters. Thunnus alalunga caught during June and July are capable of spawning daily. The gonadosomatic index values for T. alalunga from the western Mediterranean were up to eight times higher than those of T. alalunga from other oceans. Histological examination of the ovaries showed that the minimum length at sexual maturity of females was 56 cm LF, which is considerably smaller than those estimated for other stocks.

Keywords

Size distributionsex ratiogonadosomatic indexhistologysexual maturityspawning season
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 95 , Issue 8 , December 2015 , pp. 1705 - 1715
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2015 

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