Abstract

The reproductive season of Strombus gigas was determined in the Alacranes reef along February 1999 to March 2000. The sampling was in 22ª 34' LN, 89ª 42' LW (site 1); 22°29' LN, 89ª 45' (site 2) and 22°22' LN, 89ª 39' LW (site 3), based on a study about Distribution and abundance done in 1998. Each sites were used three 100 x 10m transects. On the transect area, pairing, spawning and egg laying, and conch morphology were documented. During February 2000, the first spawning pair was observed in a 9,000 m2 area. The maximun reproduction activity was in april with seven pairings and eight egg masses. In February 2000, four egg masses were found and two in March. In this study, the site with more reproduction activity was 22º29'LN and 89º45', with 33 pairing, three spawnings and 21 egg masses. For the sites, the mean shell lenght was 229 ± 13.32 mm (S.D.) (n=458) and for lip thickness 16 ± 5.18 mm. The mean low bottom water temperature was 27ºC. The water temperature was 30ºC from June to September, decreasing to 21ºC in January.

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