Reproductive characteristics of the spotted weever (Trachinus araneus- Cuvier, 1829) and the greater weever (Trachinus draco- Linnaeus, 1758) from the western Egyptian Mediterranean coast

Heneish Et Al., Rasha Ali

doi:10.21608/ejabf.2022.256001

Reproductive characteristics of the spotted weever (Trachinus araneus- Cuvier, 1829) and the greater weever (Trachinus draco- Linnaeus, 1758) from the western Egyptian Mediterranean coast

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Rasha Ali Heneish et al.

10.21608/ejabf.2022.256001

Abstract

536 Trachinus araneus and 460 Trachinus draco samples were collected monthly from August 2018 to August 2019 by the bottom trawl operated in the Western Egyptian Mediterranean coast. Some reproductive characteristics of both species such as sex ratio, gonado-somatic index (GSI), hepato-somatic index (HSI), spawning time, and length at first maturity were reported. Sex ratio analysis of male: female ratio was
1: 2.90 (x² = 122.56) for T. araneus and 1: 0.29 (x² =135.08) for T. draco. The gonado-somatic index (GSI) and hepato-somatic index (HSI) for the two species indicate that the spawning period occurred in the autumn months. The Length at first sexual maturity (Lm₅₀) was 14.29± 0.38 cm for T. araneus and 14.60± 0.26 cm for T. draco with compatible ages 3.89 and 3.92 years, respectively. Moreover, the reproductive load ratios were 0.44 for T. araneus and 0.56 for T. draco.

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