Abstract
The reproductive characteristics of Kyphosus bigibbus were examined using individuals collected between June 2004 and February 2009 off Nagasaki Peninsula in northwest Kyushu, Japan. The spawning season and size at sexual maturity of this species were characterized based on a gonad index and histological examination of the gonads. The spawning season extends from June to October. This species is assumed to be an indeterminate, multiple-batch spawner. Females reached sexual maturity at larger size than males (fork length at 50% sexual maturity: males 284 mm, females 360 mm).
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Acknowledgments
We are grateful to A. Hideshima, J. Fukushima, T. Miura, and the commercial fishermen of the Nomozaki Fisheries Cooperative Association for their assistance in the field survey. We also thank two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments on this manuscript. This study was partly supported by the prefecture’s project for countermeasures against the rocky shore denudation in coastal areas in Nagasaki Prefecture. The experiments in this study complied with the current laws of Japan.
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Yamaguchi, A., Kume, G., Yoshimura, Y. et al. Spawning season and size at sexual maturity of Kyphosus bigibbus (Kyphosidae) from northwest Kyushu, Japan. Ichthyol Res 58, 283–287 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10228-011-0221-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10228-011-0221-7