Abstract

Reproductive ecology of Striped mojarra Eugerres plumieri in the Cordoba´s Caribbean Sea, Colombia, was studied. 405 Individuals with total length (TL) ranged between 10.0 and 35.7 cm and total weight (TW) ranged between 11.6 and 740.0 grams were collected. The gonads were placed in Gilson solution, the Holden & Raitt scale was applicated and sexual proportion, maturity index, spawning season, length at first maturity, ovocites’s diameter and fecundity were estimated. 229 females, 151 males and 25 undifferentiated were found, with sexual proportion female: male 1.5:1, differently than expected, and sexual dimorphism in size, since females reach larger sizes than males. Length at first maturity was estimated in 20.3 cm TL for both sexes, similar value to the length at first maturity estimated for the species in the Cienaga Grande de Santa Marta, Colombia. Several sizes of oocytes were found, with average diameter of 344 microns for mature oocytes and average fecundity was estimated in 300,000 oocytes by spawning batch. The results achieved suggest that Striped mojarra is a fish whose spawning season extends during the year with partial spawning, small oocytes and high fecundity associated to the ovaries´s weight

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