Maturity is one of the most important biological parameters used in stock assessment programmes. Indeed, the macroscopic stage of gonadal development is an essential feature in estimating the maturity ogive and spawning stock bio- mass. It is also useful for determining the spawning season of a species and for monitoring long-term changes in the spawn- ing cycle as well as for many other research needs related to the biology of fish. Despite the efforts made during the last few decades to standardize maturity stage data among all the researchers, marine biologists continue without a manageable and unique maturity scale to describe the reproductive development of fish gonads. For these reasons, the objectives of this article are 1) to investigate the biological parameters of five selected key species (Mullus barbatus, Galeus melastomus, Etmop- terus spinax, Aristeus antennatus, Loligo vulgaris) with different reproductive strategies following the macroscopic maturity scales based on the same univocal criteria adopted in the MEDITS programme and described in this work; and 2) to compare them among some Mediterranean geographical sub-areas (GSAs) involved in the programme. Neither spawning periods nor size at first maturity (SFM50) for the studied species showed particular differences in the investigated GSAs.

The MEDITS maturity scales as a useful tool for investigating the reproductive traits of key species in the Mediterranean Sea

Maria Cristina Follesa;Blondine Agus;Andrea Bellodi;Rita Cannas;Alessandro Cau;Danila Cuccu;Martina Francesca Marongiu;Antonello Mulas;Paola Pesci;Cristina Porcu;
2019-01-01

Abstract

Maturity is one of the most important biological parameters used in stock assessment programmes. Indeed, the macroscopic stage of gonadal development is an essential feature in estimating the maturity ogive and spawning stock bio- mass. It is also useful for determining the spawning season of a species and for monitoring long-term changes in the spawn- ing cycle as well as for many other research needs related to the biology of fish. Despite the efforts made during the last few decades to standardize maturity stage data among all the researchers, marine biologists continue without a manageable and unique maturity scale to describe the reproductive development of fish gonads. For these reasons, the objectives of this article are 1) to investigate the biological parameters of five selected key species (Mullus barbatus, Galeus melastomus, Etmop- terus spinax, Aristeus antennatus, Loligo vulgaris) with different reproductive strategies following the macroscopic maturity scales based on the same univocal criteria adopted in the MEDITS programme and described in this work; and 2) to compare them among some Mediterranean geographical sub-areas (GSAs) involved in the programme. Neither spawning periods nor size at first maturity (SFM50) for the studied species showed particular differences in the investigated GSAs.
2019
MEDITS maturity scales; reproduction; fish; cephalopods; crustaceans; Mediterranean Sea.
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
Follesa et al 2019 b.pdf

accesso aperto

Tipologia: versione editoriale (VoR)
Dimensione 3.17 MB
Formato Adobe PDF
3.17 MB Adobe PDF Visualizza/Apri

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11584/283442
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus 18
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 18
social impact