Hostname: page-component-89b8bd64d-x2lbr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-05-11T17:57:31.162Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Life history parameters of blue jack mackerel Trachurus picturatus (Teleostei: Carangidae) from north-east Atlantic

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 November 2014

Alexandra Garcia ,
João g. Pereira ,
Ângela Canha ,
Dália Reis  and
Hugo Diogo
Alexandra Garcia*
Affiliation:
Department of Oceanography and Fisheries (DOP), University of the Azores, Rua Prof. Doutor Frederico Machado, 9901-862 Horta, Portugal
João g. Pereira
Affiliation:
Department of Oceanography and Fisheries (DOP), University of the Azores, Rua Prof. Doutor Frederico Machado, 9901-862 Horta, Portugal
Ângela Canha
Affiliation:
Department of Oceanography and Fisheries (DOP), University of the Azores, Rua Prof. Doutor Frederico Machado, 9901-862 Horta, Portugal
Dália Reis
Affiliation:
Department of Oceanography and Fisheries (DOP), University of the Azores, Rua Prof. Doutor Frederico Machado, 9901-862 Horta, Portugal
Hugo Diogo
Affiliation:
Department of Oceanography and Fisheries (DOP), University of the Azores, Rua Prof. Doutor Frederico Machado, 9901-862 Horta, Portugal
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: A. Garcia, Department of Oceanography and Fisheries (DOP), University of the Azores, Rua Prof. Doutor Frederico Machado, 9901-862 Horta, Portugal email: alexandra.garcia.guerreiro@gmail.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Blue jack mackerel Trachurus picturatus monthly samples were collected between 1998 and 2011 to determine morphometric relationships, maturity, growth rates, reproduction and spawning seasonality in north-east Atlantic waters (ICES area Xa2). A total of 2895 specimens were sampled, ranging from 98 to 542 mm in fork-length (LF). The morphometric relationships (length-length and length-weight) showed statistically significant differences between sexes. Ages were estimated by counting growth bands on otoliths and verified by marginal increment analysis, with specimens ranging from 0 to 18 years. The von Bertalanffy models used to estimate growth parameters for both observed and back-calculated length-at-age data gave good fits. The gonads were analysed macroscopically and the spawning season found to occur from December to May. The length at 50% maturity for females and males occurred at 277 mm LF (4.3 years) and 288 mm LF (5.1 years), respectively. The results provide important biological information for fisheries assessment of a species that plays an important key role in the surrounding ecosystem.

Keywords

agegrowthmorphometricsreproductionmaturity

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 95 , Issue 2 , March 2015 , pp. 401 - 410
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2014 

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

Abaunza, P., Gordo, L., Karlou-Riga, C., Murta, A., Eltink, A.T.G.W., Garcia-Santamaria, M.T., Zimmermann, C., Hammer, C., Lucio, P., Iversen, S.A., Molloy, J. and Gallo, E. (2003) Growth and reproduction of horse mackerel, Trachurus trachurus (carangidae). Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries 13, 27–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Amenzoui, K., Ferhan-Tachinante, F., Yahyaoui, A., Kifani, S. and Mesfioui, A.H. (2006) Analysis of the cycle of reproduction of Sardina pilchardus (Walbaum, 1792) off the Moroccan Atlantic coast. Comptes Rendus Biologies 329, 892–901.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Anderson, R. and Gutreuter, S. (1983) Length, weight and associated structural indices. In Nielsen, L. and Johnson, D. (eds) Fisheries techniques. Bethesda, MD: American Fisheries Society, pp. 283–300.Google Scholar
Bagenal, T.B. and Tesch, F.W. (1978) Age and growth. In Bagenal, T. (ed) Methods for assessment of fish production in fresh waters, IBP Handbook No. 3. Oxford: Blackwell Scientific, pp. 101–136.Google Scholar
Barreiros, J.P., Morato, T., Santos, R.S. and Borba, A.E. (2003) Interannual changes in the diet of the Almaco Jack, Seriola rivoliana (Perciformes: Carangidae) from the Azores. Cybium 27, 37–40.Google Scholar
Bates, D.M. and Chambers, J.M. (1992) Nonlinear models. In Chambers, J.M. and Hastie, T.J. (eds) Statistical models in S. Pacific Grove, CA: Wadsworth and Brooks/Cole.Google Scholar
Batts, B.S. (1972) Sexual maturity, fecundity and sex ratio of the skipjack tuna, Katsuwonus pelamis L. in North Carolina waters. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 101, 626–637.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beamish, R.J. and McFarlane, G.A. (1983) The forgotten requirement for age validation in fisheries biology. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 112, 735–743.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Borges, T.C., Olim, S. and Erzini, K. (2003) Weight-length relationship for fish species discarded in commercial fisheries of the Algarve (southern Portugal). Journal of Applied Ichthyology 19, 394–396.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Campana, S.E. (1999) Chemistry and composition of fish otoliths: pathways, mechanisms and applications. Marine Ecology Progress Series 188, 263–297.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coelho, R., Bentes, L., Correia, C., Gonçalves, J.M.S., Lino, P.G., Monteiro, P., Ribeiro, J. and Erzini, K. (2010) Life history of the common pandora, Pagellus erythrinus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Actinopterygii: Sparidae) from Southern Portugal. Brazilian Journal of Oceanography 58, 233–245.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Costa, A.M. (2001) Contribuição para o estudo da fecundidade temporal e espacial do carapau (Trachurus trachurus L.) na costa Portuguesa. Dissertação apresentada para acesso à categoria de Investigador Auxiliar. Lisbon: IPIMAR, 177 pp.Google Scholar
Diogo, H. and Pereira, J.G. (2014) Assessing the potential biological implications of recreational inshore fisheries on sub-tidal fish communities of Azores (north-east Atlantic Ocean) using catch and effort data. Journal of Fish Biology 84, 952–970.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dixon, W.J. and Massey, F.J. (1985) Introduction to statistical analysis. 4th edition. New York, NY: McGraw Hill.Google Scholar
Ehrhardt, N.M. (1992) Age and growth of swordfish, Xiphias gladius, in the northwestern Atlantic. Bulletin of Marine Science 50, 292–301.Google Scholar
Francis, R.I.C.C. (1990) Back-calculation of fish lengths: a critical review. Journal of Fish Biology 36, 883–902.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gonçalves, J.M.S., Bentes, L., Lino, P.G., Ribeiro, J., Canário, A.V.M. and Erzini, K. (1997) Weight-length relationships for selected fish species of the small-scale demersal fisheries of the south and south-west coast of Portugal. Fisheries Research 30, 253–256.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
ICES (2012) Report of the working group on Southern Horse Mackerel, Anchovy and Sardine (WGHANSA). ICES CM 2012/ACOM:16. 23–28 June. Azores (Horta); Portugal, 552 pp.Google Scholar
Isidro, H.A. (1990) Age and growth of Trachurus picturatus (Bowdich, 1825) (Teleostei: Carangidae) from the Azores. Arquipelago, Life and Marine Sciences 8, 45–54.Google Scholar
Jesus, G.T. (1992) Study of the growth and reproduction of Trachurus picturatus (Bowdich, 1825) in Madeira. Doc. N. XIV/C/1-1991/03 (DGXIV/CE), 66 pp.Google Scholar
Jurado-Ruzafa, A. and Santamaría, M.T.G. (2013) Reproductive biology of the blue jack mackerel, Trachurus picturatus (Bowdich, 1825), off the Canary Islands. Journal of Applied Ichthyology 29, 526–531.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Karlou-Riga, C. (2000) Otolith morphology and age and growth of Trachurus mediterraneus (Steindachner) in the Eastern Mediterranean. Fisheries Research 46, 69–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
King, M. (1995) Fisheries biology, assessment and management. Oxford: Fishing News Book, 352 pp.Google Scholar
King, J.R. and McFarlane, G.A. (2003) Marine fish life history strategies: applications to fishery management. Fisheries Management and Ecology 10, 249–264.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Macer, C.T. (1974) The reproductive biology of the horse mackerel Trachurus trachurus (L.) in the North Sea and English Channel. Journal of Fish Biology 6, 415–438.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martins, H.R. (1982). Biological studies of the exploited stock of Loligo forbesi (Mollusca: Cephalopoda) in the Azores. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 62, 799–808.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mendes, B., Fonseca, P. and Campos, A. (2004) Weight-length relationships for 46 fish species of the Portuguese west coast. Journal of Applied Ichthyology 20, 355–361.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Menezes, G.M., Rosa, A., Melo, O. and Pinho, M.R. (2009) Demersal fish assemblages off the Seine and Sedlo seamounts (northeast Atlantic). Deep-Sea Research II 56, 2683–2704.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Menezes, G.M., Sigler, M.F., Silva, H.M. and Pinho, M.R. (2006) Structure and zonation of demersal fish assemblages off the Azores Archipelago (mid-Atlantic). Marine Ecology Progress Series 324, 241–260.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Merella, P., Quetglas, A., Alemany, F. and Carbonell, A. (1997) Length-weight relationship of fishes and cephalopods from the Balearic Islands (western Mediterranean). Naga ICLARM Q. 20, 66–68.Google Scholar
Morato, T., Solà, E., Grós, M.P. and Menezes, G. (1999) Diet of forkbeard (Phycis phycis) and conger eel (Conger conger) off the Azores during spring of 1996 and 1997. Arquipélago, Life and Marine Sciences 17A, 51–64.Google Scholar
Pepin, P. (1995) An analysis of the length-weight relationship of larval fish: limitations of the general allometric model. Fisheries Bulletin 93, 419–426.Google Scholar
Petrakis, G. and Stergiou, K.I. (1995) Weight-length relationships for 33 fish species in Greek waters. Fisheries Research 21, 465–469.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Quérouil, S., Silva, M.A., Cascão, I., Magalhães, S., Seabra, M.I., Machete, M.A. and Santos, R. (2008) Why do dolphins form mixed-species associations in the Azores? Ethology 114, 1183–1194.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Silva, A. (2007) Geographic variation in sardine population traits: implications for stock assessment. Doctoral thesis. Universidade do Algarve, Faro, 235 pp.Google Scholar
Smith-Vaniz, W.F. (1986) Carangidae. In Whitehead, P.J.P., Bauchot, M.L., Hureau, J.C., Nielson, J. and Tortonese, E.R. (eds) Fishes of the North-Eastern Atlantic and Mecditerranean, Volume II. Paris: UNESCO.Google Scholar
Sokal, R.R. and Rohlf, F.J. (1987) Introduction to biostatistics. New York, NY: W. H. Freeman, 363 pp.Google Scholar
StatSoft, Inc. (2001) STATISTICA (data analysis software system), version 6. www.statsoft.com.Google Scholar
Stratoudakis, Y., Coombs, S.H., Lago de Lanzós, A., Halliday, N., Costas, G., Caneco, B., Franco, C., Conway, D., Santos, M.B., Silva, A. and Bernal, M. (2007) Sardine (Sardina pilchardus) spawning seasonality in European waters of the Northeast Atlantic. Marine Biology 152, 201–212.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sun, C.L., Wang, S.P. and Yeh, S.Z. (2002) Age and growth of the swordfish (Xiphias gladius L.) in the waters around Taiwan determined from anal-fin rays. Fishery Bulletin 100, 822–835.Google Scholar
Treasurer, J.W. and Holliday, F.G.T. (1981) Some aspects of the reproductive biology of perch Perca fluviatilis L. A histological description of the reproductive cycle. Journal of Fish Biology 18, 359–376.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tserpes, G. and Tsimenides, N. (1995) Determination of age and growth of swordfish, Xiphias gladius L, 1758, in the Eastern Mediterranean using anal-fin spines. Fishery Bulletin 93, 594–602.Google Scholar
Vasconcelos, J., Alves, A., Gouveia, E. and Faria, G. (2006) Age and growth of the blue jack mackerel, Trachurus picturatus Bowdich, 1825 (Pisces: Teleostei) off Madeira archipelago. Arquipelago, Life and Marine Sciences 23A, 47–57.Google Scholar
Vicentini, R.N. and Araújo, F.G. (2003) Sex ratio and size structure of Micropogonias furnieri (Desmarest, 1823) (Perciformes, Sciaenidae) in Sepetiba Bay, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Brazilian Journal of Biology 63, 559–566.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Viette, M., Giulianini, P.G. and Ferrero, E.A. (1997) Reproductive biology of scad, Trachurus mediterraneus (Teleostei, Carangidae), from the Gulf of Trieste. ICES Journal of Marine Science 54, 267–272.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Waldron, M.E. and Kerstan, M. (2001) Age validation in horse mackerel (Trachurus trachurus) otoliths. ICES Journal of Marine Science 58, 806–813.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Winemiller, K.O. (2005). Life history strategies, population regulation, and implications for fisheries management. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 62, 872–885.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Xavier, J.C., Magalhães, M.C., Mendonça, A.S., Antunes, M., Carvalho, N., Machete, M., Santos, R., Paiva, V. and Hamer, K.C. (2011) Changes in diet of Cory's Shearwaters Calonectris diomedea breeding in the Azores. Marine Ornithology 39, 129–134.Google Scholar
Zar, J.H. (1996) Biostatistical analysis. 3rd edition. London: Prentice-Hall International.Google Scholar