Spawning seasonality and body sizes at sexual maturity in the bluespine unicornfish, Naso unicornis (Acanthuridae)

Abstract

We herein evaluate several reproductive metrics of Hawaiian Archipelagic populations of the bluespine unicornfish (Naso unicornis), an economically and ecologically important, broadly distributed tropical Pacific reef fish, based on multi-year, fishery-dependent and fishery-independent collections. Sex-specific spawning seasonality was characterized for fish collected mostly from Oahu (Main Hawaiian Islands, MHI) using a gonadosomatic index. Histological slides preparations were used to score gonad developmental phase and to classify individuals of either sex as immature or mature. Sex-specific median body lengths at maturity (L50) were estimated by logistic fits of proportion mature versus length class. Spawning was highly seasonal in Hawaii, with a single brief (May–June) peak spawning period. Proportionate gonad-to-body weight values were relatively low, averaging only about 0.1 % and 0.6 % across all months of year and 0.16 % and 1.03 % during May–June for males and females, respectively. Median lengths at sexual maturity differed between the sexes. L50 values for fish collected throughout all months of year were 30.1 ± 0.5 (standard error) cm Fork Length (FL) for males and 35.5 ± 0.7 cm FL for females. Spawning seasonality and L50 estimates for bluespine unicornfish in Hawaii suggest that the species spawns several months earlier in the calendar year and matures at larger body lengths in Hawaii versus Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and Pohnpei in the Federated States of Micronesia. Estimated lengths at sexual maturity are compared to the minimum length (14 inches or 35.6 cm FL) mandated for this species in Hawaii: median size at maturity occurs at a length appreciably less than (males) or approximately equal to (females) minimum legal size. A likely disproportionately large contribution of old females to population replenishment is discussed relative to the minimum size limit.