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Reproductive aspects of Notothenia rossii and N. coriiceps (Perciformes, Nototheniidae) at Potter Cove, 25 de Mayo (King George) Island during austral summer

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Abstract

Several fish species of the suborder Notothenioidei (Perciformes) predominate in the Antarctic Convergence Zone; nevertheless, reproductive studies are scarce due to difficulties on regular sampling. This study takes the research area of reproductive biology of notothenioids to a new level by providing, for the first time, data on sex hormone and vitellogenin detection in the blood of females of Notothenia rossii and N. coriiceps and correlates this data with morphological maturity indices as well as ovarian histology. Fish were captured during the Antarctic summer at Potter Cove, 25 de Mayo (King George) Island, and blood and ovary were collected. Histological analysis revealed that females of both fish possess group synchronous ovarian development with two distinct clutches of oocytes: a more advanced batch of vitellogenic oocytes ready for spawning and a second batch of previtellogenic oocytes for the next spawning event. Since liver vitellogenin synthesis is stimulated by estradiol produced by the ovaries, gonadal development, estradiol levels, and vitellogenin showed that both species were at a more advanced stage of maturation in March than in January. On the other hand and irrespectively of the month, gonadosomatic index and plasma estradiol levels of N. coriiceps were higher than those of N. rossii. Furthermore, females of N. coriiceps showed an advanced stage of vitellogenesis or were ready for spawn, contrary to results of previous studies. Our results indicate the successful use of gonadal morphology, estradiol, and vitellogenin detection for the estimation of sexual maturity stage of female adults.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Gabriel Rosa, Fernando Meijide, Hernán Sacristan, and Carlos Bellisio for sampling collection during scientific campaigns. The financial support was provided by Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica (PICTO 0091, Ansaldo, Genovese, Lo Nostro). Grants from Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBACyT 056, Lo Nostro) and CONICET (PIP 1021, Lo Nostro) partially contributed to this research.

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  1. Laboratorio de Ecotoxicología Acuática, Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, C1428EGA, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    M. F. Ferreira, M. L. Varela, F. Lo Nostro & G. Genovese

  2. IBBEA, CONICET-UBA, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    M. F. Ferreira, M. L. Varela, F. Lo Nostro & G. Genovese

  3. Instituto Antártico Argentino, Avenida 25 de Mayo 1150, B1650HML, San Martín, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    M. Ansaldo

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  1. M. F. Ferreira
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Ferreira, M.F., Varela, M.L., Lo Nostro, F. et al. Reproductive aspects of Notothenia rossii and N. coriiceps (Perciformes, Nototheniidae) at Potter Cove, 25 de Mayo (King George) Island during austral summer. Polar Biol 40, 1–11 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-016-1918-x

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