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Email the author (Login required) Sexual maturity stage, reproductive indices, and fecundity in striped mullet female Mugil cephalus in Bahía de Buenaventura, Colombian Pacific coast
Submited: 2024-07-20 13:31:14 | Published: 2025-04-30 20:11:46
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3856/vol53-issue2-fulltext-3313
Abstract
The stage of sexual maturity, fecundity, and relationship of gonadosomatic (GSI), hepatosomatic (HSI), and hepatogonadal (HGI) indices in mullet Mugil cephalus, captured in Bahía de Buenaventura, was examined in the present study. With the help of artisanal fishermen, 21 specimens (all females) were collected in February 2024. The mullets measured in total length between 28.0 and 35.5 cm (30.8 ± 2.3 cm standard deviation) and weighed between 200.0 and 364.5 g (246.6 ± 43.6 g). The fecundity of females weighing 257.8 ± 48.9 g was estimated at 423,659 ± 103,208 oocytes. The GSI and HSI increased from 1.0 ± 0.4 to 6.4 ± 1.5% and from 0.8 ± 0.2 to 1.0 ± 0.1% in immature to mature females, respectively. Also, significantly different from each other, the values of the HGI in immature females were 72.2 16.3%, compared to that of mature females of 17.2 ± 4.6%. Since the liver is responsible for the synthesis and production of vitellogenin, which is then taken up by the oocytes in the gonad (ovary), the HGI may also be a very useful indicator of sexual maturity in mullet, as well as for other fishes.
