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Some reproductive traits of the Tristan klipfish, Bovichtus diacanthus (Carmichael 1819) (Notothenioidei: Bovichtidae) from Tristan da Cunha (South Atlantic)

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Abstract

The reproductive biology of the Tristan klipfish, Bovichtus diacanthus, was investigated by macroscopic and histological analyses of the gonads. Fish samples were collected in tide pools at Tristan da Cunha in July 2004. Most specimens of both sexes were developing, or sexually mature, with a gonadosomatic index (GSI) of 7.0–9.2% in females and 0.2–0.6% in males. Histologically, testes showed a random distribution of spermatogonia along the lobules, a condition defined as the unrestricted spermatogonial type. Ripe males exhibited lobules with all spermatogenic stages of development from spermatogonia to spermatozoa. In mature females, the ovarian follicles consisted of three main cohorts of oocytes of different sizes; the smaller one represented by previtellogenic oocytes of 15–150 μm and the other two by yolked oocytes measuring, respectively, 300–1000 and 800–1500 μm. The overlap between the stock of advanced yolked oocytes and the early yolked oocytes was low, decreasing progressively with final maturation. As a result, B. diacanthus was considered a batch spawner, with a spawning season extending from July to August onward. Batch fecundity, based on the most advanced yolked oocytes, was 2,047–8,317 mature oocytes/female, whereas the relative fecundity was 77–141 mature oocytes/g. In the light of the phyletically basal position of bovichtids in the suborder, the reproductive traits of B. diacanthus were compared with those previously described in other Antarctic and non-Antarctic notothenioids.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the captain, crew, and personnel of Raytheon Polar Services aboard the RVIB Nathaniel B. Palmer for their excellent assistance during the cruise. The ICEFISH 2004 cruise was supported by National Science Foundation Grant OPP 01-32032 to H. William Detrich (Northeastern University). This study was financially supported by the PNRA (Italian National Antarctic Research Program). J. T. Eastman was supported by National Science Foundation Grant ANT 04-36190. We thank John C. Montgomery, Eva Pisano and an anonymous referee for their comments, which greatly improved the early draft of the manuscript.

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  1. ISMAR-CNR, Istituto di Scienze Marine, Sede di Ancona, Largo Fiera della Pesca, 60125, Ancona, Italy

    Mario La Mesa

  2. Istituto di Biologia e Genetica, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Via Ranieri 65, 60131, Ancona, Italy

    Vincenzo Caputo

  3. Department of Biomedical Sciences, College of Osteopathic Medicine, Ohio University, Athens, OH, 45701-2979, USA

    Joseph T. Eastman

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Correspondence to Mario La Mesa.

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La Mesa, M., Caputo, V. & Eastman, J.T. Some reproductive traits of the Tristan klipfish, Bovichtus diacanthus (Carmichael 1819) (Notothenioidei: Bovichtidae) from Tristan da Cunha (South Atlantic). Polar Biol 33, 337–346 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-009-0710-6

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