Fecundity of Chub Mackerel (Scomber japonicus Houttuyn, 1782) in the Aegean Sea.

Ö Cengiz

doi:10.1590/1519-6984.230716

Abstract

This study was carried out in April - June 2014 to determine absolute fecundity (F) of the chub mackerel (Scomber japonicus Houttuyn, 1782) in Saros Bay (Aegean Sea, Turkey). The relations between the absolute fecundity and total length, total weight and age of the chub mackerel females were estimated as F=0.0318TL4.81, F=1573.9TW- 42858 and F=109607A-136129, respectively. This study aims to contribute to the reproductive biology of S. japonicus by reporting the first findings about the absolute fecundity of the species for the Aegean Sea.

Highlights

Fecundity studies are of great importance in total population assessments, productivity and population dynamics studies, and the determination of the specific properties of the populations, subpopulations, and/or fish stocks (De Martini and Sikkel, 2006).The chub mackerel (Scomber japonicus Houttuyn, 1782) is a cosmopolitan middle-sized pelagic species inhabiting warm and temperate costal waters of the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans and adjacent seas
This study aims to contribute to the reproductive biology of S. japonicus by reporting the first findings about the absolute fecundity of the species for the Aegean Sea
Saros Bay, which is situated in the Northeastern Aegean Sea, is connected to the North Aegean with a depth of approximately 600 m to the west

Summary

Introduction

Fecundity studies are of great importance in total population assessments, productivity and population dynamics studies, and the determination of the specific properties of the populations, subpopulations, and/or fish stocks (De Martini and Sikkel, 2006). The chub mackerel (Scomber japonicus Houttuyn, 1782) is a cosmopolitan middle-sized pelagic species inhabiting warm and temperate costal waters of the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans and adjacent seas. It is found in the continental slope from the surface to the depth of 300 m and reaches its deepest levels during the day (Collette and Nauen, 1983). By virtue of its commercial importance worldwide, many studies has been conducted regarding growth and reproduction (Techetach et al, 2010; Cikeš Keč and Zorica, 2012; Cerna and Plaza, 2014), weight-length relationships (Petrakis and Stergiou, 1995; Moutopoulos and Stergiou, 2002; Karakulak et al, 2006), fishery (Cengiz et al, 2013a), feeding habit (Castro, 1993) and hermaphroditism (Özekinci et al, 2009), as a summary.

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