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Reproductive biology and spawning aggregation fishing of the white-streaked grouper, Epinephelus ongus, associated with seasonal and lunar cycles

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Abstract

The reproductive biology of the white-streaked grouper Epinephelus ongus, which forms spawning aggregations in the Yaeyama Islands, Okinawa, was examined by gonadal histology and oocyte development analysis. Gonadal histology showed that the spawning season was determined from April to July, but there are two spawning periods associated with the specific lunar cycle, during the week after the last quarter moon in two consecutive months. The pattern of oocyte development indicated that individual females spawned more than once, but fecundity may be determinate within a single spawning period. Fecundity was correlated to body size and ranged from several hundred thousand to a million eggs. Detailed catch data analysis showed that the catches during the two spawning months accounted for about 40 % of the annual landings and the fluctuation of the catch data corresponded well to some reproductive activities related to spawning aggregation. The two stepwise increases and the peaks of the catches coincided with the occurrence of matured individuals and the onset of spawning at the last quarter moon, respectively. These findings suggest that the spawning of E. ongus was concentrated within a few days just after the last quarter moon and that aggregation fishing was also concentrated in the critical reproductive periods.

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Acknowledgments

We sincerely thank T. Yogi, M. Sunagawa, K. Kinjyo, M. Higa, Y. Shibata, M. Asano, and all of the fishermen of the Yaeyama Fisheries Cooperative who assisted in this study. We also thank I. Yamamoto, Y. Fukuda, and A. Yano for their assistance. We are particularly grateful to anonymous reviewers for providing critical comments on the prior manuscript. This study was supported by the Okinawa prefectural government.

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  1. Okinawa Prefectural Fisheries Research and Extension Center, Kyan 1528, 901-0354, Itoman, Okinawa, Japan

    Itaru Ohta & Akihiko Ebisawa

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  1. Itaru Ohta
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  2. Akihiko Ebisawa
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Correspondence to Itaru Ohta.

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Ohta, I., Ebisawa, A. Reproductive biology and spawning aggregation fishing of the white-streaked grouper, Epinephelus ongus, associated with seasonal and lunar cycles. Environ Biol Fish 98, 1555–1570 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-015-0382-8

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