Abstract
Boops boops sexuality was studied in 664 females, 201 males, and 103 hermaphrodites collected from central Algerian coast ports between December 2013 and November 2014. Histoanatomical observations were performed to describe the sexual pattern of B. boops . Observation of the evolution of sexual maturity stages as well as the gonadosomatic report have established the breeding period of B. boops as between February and June. The B. boops population fished here is in favor of females, with a percentage of 76.76% against 23.34% for males. Thus, the female to male ratio (F:M) of the sample was calculated as 1:3.3. According to the monthly value of hepatosomatic index, the bogue seems to store its reserves in the liver. The condition factor did not significantly fluctuate. The size at first sexual maturity for both sexes was determined as 14.74 cm total length. Fecundity was studied by the volumetric method in 149 mature females of between 13.9 and 29.4 cm in total length. Absolute fecundity varied between 36,600 and 445,200 oocytes per female. The average relative fecundity was 1 565 ± 228 oocytes per gram of body weight.
Highlights
The sea bream family (Sparidae) dominates fish products on the Algerian coast and has a high species richness and high commercial potential
The different observations of gonads led us to choose a maturity scale inspired by that of Fontana (1969); it used seven stages, but we have reduced it to five because it seemed difficult to distinguish the immature stage (I) from the rest stage (II)
Reproductive cycle The macroscopic stages of B. boops reproduction were determined according to the five-stage scale (Tables 1 and 2); their monthly developments are represented in Figures 2 and 3
Summary
The sea bream family (Sparidae) dominates fish products on the Algerian coast and has a high species richness and high commercial potential. Boops boops is one of the most famous sea bream species, known by most seafood consumers. Its production has undergone a continuous decline, from 6320 t in 1992 to 2125 t in 2012. B. boops is mainly fished by trawlers (50.04%), seiners (38.84%), and artisanal fishing (11.12%) (MPRH, 2017). This species lives throughout the Mediterranean Sea, the eastern Atlantic Ocean, and the Black Sea. It is epipelagic to demersal, living in loose shoals on mixed seabeds. Its optimum depth varies between 100 and 350 m (Relini et al, 1999)
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