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Spawning frequency of the Tsushima Current subpopulation of chub mackerel Scomber japonicus off Kyushu, Japan

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Abstract

Female Japanese chub mackerel Scomber japonicus of the Tsushima Current subpopulation were collected during the spawning season from March to May 2001. A total of 137 adult females were caught between midnight and daybreak. A considerable number of fish displayed new postovulatory follicles (POF), whereas there was no evidence of germinal vesicle breakdown or hydrated oocytes in any of the fish collected. This suggests a daily spawning synchronicity toward midnight. To estimate the spawning frequency (S), the female reproductive state was classified into four criteria based on the degenerative stage of the POFs and the developmental stage of the oocytes. To stage the POFs according to age and determine the stage duration, ovaries from S. japonicus were induced to spawn in the laboratory and were sampled 0–72 h after ovulation at appropriate intervals. The average S, which is evaluated from four different indices, was 16.9%, corresponding to the average female chub mackerel spawned every 5.9 days (8.5 times) during the 50 days.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to the students of the Laboratory of Marine Biology, Kyushu University, for assistance during the experiment period. This study was supported in part by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (16380136) from the ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture of Japan.

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Author notes

  1. Tetsuro Shiraishi

    Present address: Seikai National Fisheries Research Institute, Fisheries Research Agency, Nagasaki, 851-2213, Japan

  2. Yoshiki Katoh

    Present address: National Research Institute of Fisheries Science, Fisheries Research Agency, Yokohama, 236-8648, Japan

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Marine Biology, Faculty of Agriculture, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, 812-8581, Japan

    Tetsuro Shiraishi, Suvarna D. Ketkar, Yoshiki Katoh, Mitsuo Nyuji, Akihiko Yamaguchi & Michiya Matsuyama

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  1. Tetsuro Shiraishi
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  2. Suvarna D. Ketkar
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  3. Yoshiki Katoh
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  4. Mitsuo Nyuji
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  5. Akihiko Yamaguchi
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  6. Michiya Matsuyama
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michiya Matsuyama.

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Shiraishi, T., Ketkar, S.D., Katoh, Y. et al. Spawning frequency of the Tsushima Current subpopulation of chub mackerel Scomber japonicus off Kyushu, Japan. Fish Sci 75, 649–655 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12562-009-0094-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12562-009-0094-0

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