Reproductive variability of the common snook, Centropomus undecimalis, in environments of contrasting salinities interconnected by the Grijalva–Usumacinta fluvial system

The common snook, Centropomus undecimalis , is a migratory euryhaline fish. In the s outhern Gulf of Mexico, fishing of large snooks occurs mainly in the marine envir onment (MA), while medium-size adults and juveniles are ca ught in freshwa ter environmen ts (FW); however, large-size adults can als...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Ulises Hernández-Vidal, Xavier Chiappa-Carrara, Wilfrido Contreras-Sánchez
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2014
País:México
Institución:Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco
Repositorio:Redalyc-UJAT
OAI Identifier:oai:redalyc.org:48032071002
Acceso en línea:https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=48032071002
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Ciencias de la Tierra
common snook
Centropomidae
reproductive biology
Centropomus undecimalis
contrasting envi ronments
Descripción
Sumario:The common snook, Centropomus undecimalis , is a migratory euryhaline fish. In the s outhern Gulf of Mexico, fishing of large snooks occurs mainly in the marine envir onment (MA), while medium-size adults and juveniles are ca ught in freshwa ter environmen ts (FW); however, large-size adults can also be found in FW far away from the sea, and the effect of different environments on their rep roductive cycle is unknown. To describe the reproductive cy cle of this species in diff erent salinity habitats, we analyzed macroscopic reproduc tive characteristics during one annual cycle in FW and MA interconnected by the Grij alva–Usumacinta basin. Sp ecimens with full-grown gonads and capable of spawning were found in FW, an unusual condition not reported for this habitat, but active spawning was observed only in MA. Centropomus undecimalis has a biological strategy that allows the use of FW as a juvenile until it reaches sexual maturity as a male and joins the reproductive stock in MA. Adults of bot h sexes can remain in both FW and MA without affecting th eir reproductive cycle, sug gesting that those that mature in FW migrate to the sea during the spawning season.