Acta Adriatica, Vol. 62 No. 2, 2021.
Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.32582/aa.62.2.6
Reproductive traits of the European hake, Merluccius merluccius (L. 1758), in the Adriatic Sea
Barbara Zorica
; Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries, Šetalište Ivana Meštrovića 63, 21000 Split, Croatia
Igor Isajlović
; Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries, Šetalište Ivana Meštrovića 63, 21000 Split, Croatia
Nedo Vrgoč
; Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries, Split, Croatia
Vanja Čikeš Keč
; Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries, Split, Croatia
Damir Medvešek
; Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries, Split, Croatia
Vedran Vuletin
; Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries, Split, Croatia
Ivana Radonić
; Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries, Split, Croatia
Ratko Cvitanić
; Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries, Split, Croatia
Ivana Lepen Pleić
; Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries, Split, Croatia
Marija Šestanović
; Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries, Split, Croatia
Abstract
Within this paper, reproduction traits of the Adriatic population European hake, Merluccius merluccius (Linnaeus, 1758), were investigated. Specimens of the target species were monthly collected (N=1173) during 2019 along the eastern Adriatic Sea with commercial bottom trawlers. Overall, European hake total body length varied between 15.5 and 49.5 cm (mean±SD=27.5±5.0 cm) and domination of females was noted in larger length classes (TL>31.0 cm). The sexual ratio of all specimens was m/f=0.64; male prevalence was established over the year, except during the spawning peaks (December, June) when the sex ratio was in favour of the females. According to European hake’s maturity stages, gonad weights, gonadosomatic indexes and histological analysis of the gonad tissues, this species in Adriatic spawn twice in one year; the spawning period was from December to February, while second smaller signs of spawning were observed at the beginning of the summer, in June. 50% of the European hake male and female specimens sexually matured at 20.7 cm and 22.4 cm of total length, respectively.
Keywords
Sex ratio; Maturation; Spawning; Early life stages; Hake, Mediterranean
Hrčak ID:
271936
URI
Publication date:
22.12.2021.
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