Biological aspects of some Goatfish (Mullidae) from the southern Egyptian Red Sea; Hurghada to Shalateen

A. Heneish, Rasha; M. Sabrah, Manal; A. El-Ganainy, Azza

doi:10.21608/ejabf.2019.35950

Biological aspects of some Goatfish (Mullidae) from the southern Egyptian Red Sea; Hurghada to Shalateen

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

10.21608/ejabf.2019.35950

Abstract

Goatfish or Red Mullets are considered to be the most important economical family associated the Egyptian Red Sea coral reefs. It is the first time to appraise the difference between the biological parameters for different goatfish species in the Egyptian Red Sea. The current study was designed to evaluate the biological characteristics of some Goatfish collected seasonally from the commercial artisanal fishery operating in the Egyptian Red Sea during the period from autumn 2016 to summer 2018. The study based on five Mullidae species belonged to three different genera: Mulloidichthys flavolineatus (Lacepède, 1801), Mulloidichthys vanicolensis (Valenciennes, 1831), Upeneus moluccensis (Bleeker, 1855), Parupeneus cyclostomus (Lacepède, 1801), and Parupeneus frosskali (Fourmanoir & Gue´ze´, 1976). P. frosskali and M. vanicolensis were the most dominant species; constituted 28.13% and 20.31% of the total goatfish catch, respectively. The seasonal occurrence of different Mullidae species revealed that all species were recorded by rational percentages in spring and summer. The growth parameters (L∞ and K) were determined for all species by applying the von Bertalanffy growth function. By following the seasonal Gonado-somatic index (GSI) for different species uncover spawning period occurred between spring and summer. The lengths at first sexual maturity were determined as 18.0, 18.6, 24.50, 17.2 and 13.68 cm for M. flavolineatus; M. vanicolensis; P. cyclostomus; P. forsskali and U. moluccensis, respectively.

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