Volume 68
Preliminary Results of the Abundance of Veliger of Strombus (Lobatus) gigas (Linnaeus, 1758) Across the Caribbean Sea
Authors
Sánchez Crespo, M., H. Oxenford, O. Gros, J. Mateo, J. García Sais, A. de Jesús Navarrete, C. Paris, and D. Aldana Aranda Download PDF Open PDF in BrowserOther Information
Date: November, 2015
Pages: 384 - 386
Event: Proceedings of the Sixty eigth Annual Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute
City: Panama City
Country: Panama
Abstract
To compare the abundance of veligers of the queen conch Strombus (Lobatus) gigas (Linnaeus, 1758) across the Caribbean Sea during the main summer spawning period for this specie, larvae were sampled in Banco Chinchorro (Mexico), Puerto Morelos (Mexico), Florida and Puerto Rico (USA), Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe (FWI) and Barbados from July to September 2014. Surface plankton samples were collected by oblique hauls with a conical net of 0.5 m diameter and 200 ?m mesh size at six stations for each locality, during the full moon at the same hour. The samples were analyzed following the methodology of Davis et al. (1993) and a two way ANOVA was used to assess the statistical significance of differences among the samples. We found a total of 158 larvae of S. gigas. The highest abundance was observed in Barbados during July (18.88 larvae/10 m3). Abundance of larvae was not significantly different among months. However, significant differences were found among locations. The high abundance of veligers in the Barbados samples suggests that the low density conch population found there may still be capable of providing recruits for downstream populations.