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Reproductive effort in Chaenocephalus aceratus validated by gonadal histology: inshore sites serve as spawning grounds for some notothenioids

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Abstract

The knowledge of the reproductive biology of blackfin icefish Chaenocephalus aceratus in the southern Scotia Arc has been based, primarily on macroscopic observations of its maturation cycle, and lately, on histological analysis of ovaries in developing phase exclusively. Our study on reproduction of C. aceratus collected at Potter Cove (PC), South Shetland Islands (SSI), highlights the importance of histologic techniques to validate gonadal macroscopic maturity stages to estimate reliable reproductive parameters, in this work obtained from gravid females. Gonado-somatic index (GSI) of 7–21% (13.50 ± 4.20, n = 21), mature oocytes of 2.5–4.0 mm and total fecundity (TF) of 7372–17,212 oocytes/female (12,466 ± 2911, n = 13) were estimated. Although it is known that variations in the reproductive parameters of C. aceratus between areas of the Scotia Arc are linked to local environmental factors (i.e. hydrographic or biotic), we found close agreement between our results from PC and recent literature data for the South Georgia population, which also arose from the analysis of gravid females. Differently, lower GSIs and oocyte sizes, and higher TF reported lately for the offshore SSI population might be at least partially explained by the fact that these parameters were estimated from the analysis of developing ovaries. Based on our sampling and reproductive effort data, we suggest: (1) the spawning period of C. aceratus at the SSI might be more extended than previous belief, starting from late December until June; (2) the sheltered waters of PC might be a spawning site for C. aceratus, which highlights the role of nearshore areas as spawning grounds of notothenioids.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to C. Bellisio, O. Gonzalez, J. Piscicelli and F. Robino for their help in field activities and laboratory tasks and to M. Estrada and H. Brachetta for preparation of the histological sections. We thank three referees, K. Mintenbeck, A. Mandich, and V. Laptikhovsky, for their constructive comments. Funding was provided by Fondo para la Investigación Científica y Tecnológica (Grant No. PICTO0100-2010) and Instituto Antártico Argentino.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas Y Técnicas (CONICET), Godoy Cruz 2290, C1425FQB, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Manuel Novillo, Eugenia Moreira, Gustavo Macchi & Esteban Barrera-Oro

  2. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales Bernardino Rivadavia, Angel Gallardo 470, CI405DJR, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Manuel Novillo & Esteban Barrera-Oro

  3. Instituto Antártico Argentino, 25 de Mayo 1143, San Martín, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Eugenia Moreira & Esteban Barrera-Oro

  4. Instituto Nacional de Investigación Y Desarrollo Pesquero (INIDEP), Paseo Victoria Ocampo No. 1, CC.175, 7600, Mar del Plata, Argentina

    Gustavo Macchi

  5. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas Y Costeras (IIMyC), Rodríguez Peña 4002, B7602GSD, Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Gustavo Macchi

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  1. Manuel Novillo
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Correspondence to Manuel Novillo.

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Novillo, M., Moreira, E., Macchi, G. et al. Reproductive effort in Chaenocephalus aceratus validated by gonadal histology: inshore sites serve as spawning grounds for some notothenioids. Polar Biol 42, 1959–1972 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-019-02571-8

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