Mating behaviour and gamete release in gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata, Linnaeus 1758) held in captivity
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Publication date
2015-02-11ISSN
1695-971X
Abstract
The present study aimed to describe the reproductive behaviour of gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) in captivity. Twenty-four mature gilthead seabream, divided in two tanks, were utilized for the present study. Reproductive behaviour was recorded using submersibles cameras. A total of 67 spawning events were analysed. The mean duration time that gilthead seabream spent spawning was 54 ± 4 min/day, during which mean number of individual spawning events was 5.6 ± 0.2. The mean volume of eggs produced
by both broodstocks was 405 ± 13.4 mL with a fertilization rate of 91.6 ± 0.4%. The reproductive behaviour began with a schooling behaviour and then forming light aggregations. From an aggregation or an encounter while swimming freely a female initiated a spawning rush followed by one or more males to gametes liberation. The spawning rush was brief, 1.6 ± 0.5 sec, over an approximately 1.7 ± 0.2 m distance from the tank bottom to the water surface. Pair spawning, between a single female and male, was the most common (71.6%). Group spawning was less common and involved a single female spawning with two males (22.5%) or three males (4.9%). Spawning rushes involving more than one female were not observed. Gilthead seabream in the present study presented a tendency to pair spawn and eggs collected as a “spawn” were actually the sum of many separate spawning events over a
short time period. This is the first description of gilthead seabream spawning and the findings help to understand microsatellite based observations of spawning kinetics.
Document Type
Article
Document version
Published version
Language
English
Subject (CDU)
639 - Hunting. Fishing. Fish breeding
Pages
11
Publisher
Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria
Is part of
Spanish Journal of Agricultural Research
Citation
Ibarra-Zatarain, Zohar, and Neil Duncan. 2015. "Mating Behaviour And Gamete Release In Gilthead Seabream (Sparus Aurata, Linnaeus 1758) Held In Captivity". Spanish Journal Of Agricultural Research 13 (1): e0401. doi:10.5424/sjar/2015131-6750.
Grant agreement number
EC/FP7-SME/262523/EU/REPROduction protocols and molecular tools for mass spawning and communal rearing based SELective breeding schemes applied to multiple-spawning marine fish/REPROSEL
INIA-FEDER/Programa Nacional de Proyectos de Investigación Fundamental/RTA2011-00050-00-00/ES/Caracterización de los perfiles de comportamiento (estilos de afrontamiento del estrés) y su impacto en el éxito reproductivo del lenguado senegalés (Solea senegalensis)/
Program
Aqüicultura
This item appears in the following Collection(s)
- ARTICLES CIENTÍFICS [2685]
Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/