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Reproductive cycle and reproductive output of the sea urchin Loxechinus albus (Echinodermata: Echinoidea) from Beagle Channel, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina

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Abstract

Reproductive cycle, frequency and duration of spawning, energetic content of gonads, and reproductive output of the common green sea urchin Loxechinus albus were analyzed in the Beagle Channel (Tierra del Fuego) between May 2004 and May 2005. Gonad indices (GI, percentages of gonad mass in total body mass) were significantly higher in March, April, July, and August than in November and May, thus showing a negative correlation with the photoperiod. Highest GI values of mature individuals were observed in August, and spawning occurred from September to December. In females, the mass-specific energy content of gonads (ECG) was highest in spawned gonads and lowest in mature ones, while in males ECG values were higher in immature stage and lower in premature and mature stages. High ECG values can be explained by the abundance of nutritive phagocytes. Both ECG and total gonad energy content (TECG) were higher in females than in males. Mean reproductive output was 7.28% for females and 6.15% for males (expressed as the difference between mean GI of mature and spawned gonads) and 25.02 kJ for females and 19.26 kJ for males (expressed as the difference between mean TECG of mature and spawned gonads).

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by P.I.P. 02944 (CONICET), and Subproyecto A-B-21 (PNUDARG/02/018). The authors are grateful to D. Aureliano, M. Gutierrez and S. Rimbau for technical assistance, to M. Brögger for facilitating the microscope and Pedro Francisco Cárcamo for his generous advice.

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  1. Centro Austral de Investigaciones Científicas (CADIC-CONICET), Bernardo Houssay 200 (V9410BFD) Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina

    Analía Fernada Pérez, Claudia Boy, Elba Morriconi & Jorge Calvo

  2. Departamento de Ecología Genética y Evolución, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Intendente Güiraldes 2160, Ciudad Universitaria, (C1428EGA), Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Analía Fernada Pérez

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  1. Analía Fernada Pérez
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Correspondence to Analía Fernada Pérez.

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Pérez, A.F., Boy, C., Morriconi, E. et al. Reproductive cycle and reproductive output of the sea urchin Loxechinus albus (Echinodermata: Echinoidea) from Beagle Channel, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. Polar Biol 33, 271–280 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-009-0702-6

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