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Contribution to the study of the reproductive cycle of the wide-eyed flounder Bothus podas podas in the Gulf of Gabès (Tunisia)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 April 2010

S. Abid ,
A. Ouannes-Ghorbel ,
O. Jarboui  and
A. Bouain
S. Abid*
Affiliation:
Faculté des Sciences de Sfax, Département des Sciences de la Vie, BP 802, 3018 Sfax, Tunisia
A. Ouannes-Ghorbel
Affiliation:
Institut National des Sciences et Technologies de la Mer (INSTM), Centre de Sfax, BP 1035, Sfax, Tunisia
O. Jarboui
Affiliation:
Institut National des Sciences et Technologies de la Mer (INSTM), Centre de Sfax, BP 1035, Sfax, Tunisia
A. Bouain
Affiliation:
Faculté des Sciences de Sfax, Département des Sciences de la Vie, BP 802, 3018 Sfax, Tunisia
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: S. Abid, Faculté des Sciences de Sfax, Département des Sciences de la Vie, BP 802, 3018 Sfax, Tunisia email: Souhid@yahoo.fr
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Abstract

The wide-eyed flounder Bothus podas podas is a small fish that belongs to the Bothidae family. This species is a demersal fish inhabiting sandy and muddy bottoms where it lives buried in the sand. In the Gulf of Gabès (Tunisia), B. podas podas is an uncommon fish caught in small quantities by trawlers, between depths of 20 and 50 m. There are very few complete studies of the biology of this fish in the Mediterranean Sea. Even in Tunisia, the biology of B. podas podas is unknown. In addition, it has been noticed that during the last few years, despite having weak commercial value, this fish has attracted the fishermen's attention of the region after the observed reduction in the flat fish stocks, particularly the Egyptian sole Solea aegyptiaca. The aim of this work was to study the reproduction of B. podas podas and determine the sex-ratio, the sexual cycle, the spawning period and the first sexual maturity. The data for this work was collected during the period of May 2004 until September 2005. In general, this study shows that the proportion of sexes is in favour of females and permits us to analyse the sex-ratio variations according to the size and age of the fish. It also seems that males grow faster than females. The monthly following of the gonad somatic index (GSI), the liver somatic index (LSI) and the condition factor (K) enabled us to determine that the period of maturation occurs from May to August, to define the spawning period from August to November and to deduce that B. podas podas uses the lipid reserves accumulated in the liver to develop its gonads. Concerning the first sexual maturity it was noted that the main size related to 25%, 50% and 75% of matured individuals were respectively for males: 19.68 cm, 21 cm and 22.34 cm and for females: 18.87 cm, 20.4 cm and 21.93 cm. The coefficients of the logistic function were for males: a = 0.827, b = 17.38 and for females: a = 0.718, b = 14.65.

Keywords

Bothus podas podasreproductive cyclesex-ratiofirst sexual maturityGulf of GabèsTunisia
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 90 , Issue 3 , May 2010 , pp. 519 - 526
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2010

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