Age, growth, and reproductive characteristics of dolphinfish Coryphaena hippurus in the waters off west Kyushu, northern East China Sea

• Published in: Fisheries science Vol. 78; no. 6; pp. 1153 - 1162
• Main Authors: Furukawa, Seishiro, Ohshimo, Seiji, Tomoe, Seitaro, Shiraishi, Tetsuro, Nakatsuka, Naoyuki, Kawabe, Ryo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Japan Springer Japan 01-11-2012; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Age; Aquatic mammals; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Cooperation; Coryphaena hippurus; Developmental stages; Females; Fish; Fish & Wildlife Biology & Management; Fisheries; Food Science; Freshwater & Marine Ecology; Generalized linear models; Hatching; Life Sciences; Original Article; Otoliths; Reproductive system; Sexual maturity; Spawning; Studies; Japan; Kyushu Japan; INW, Donghai Sea; INW, Japan, Kyushu; Gonad histology; Reproduction; Dolphinfish; Scale; Growth; Otolith
• ISSN: 0919-9268; 1444-2906
• DOI: 10.1007/s12562-012-0557-6

The growth and reproductive characteristics of dolphinfish
Coryphaena hippurus
collected in the waters off western Kyushu from May 2008 to April 2011 were determined based on scale and otolith readings and gonad histological examinations, respectively. Based on annual increments in scales and daily increments in sagittal otoliths, the von Bertalanffy growth curves in male and females were determined as
and
, respectively, where
FL
t
is the mean fork length (mm) at age
t
. The spawning period was found to last from June to August for dolphinfish, based on an examination of the monthly changes in the gonadosomatic index and histological observations. Therefore, based on the relationship between the fork length and the developmental stage of the testes or ovaries, male and female dolphinfish were found to reach sexual maturity by the following spawning season after hatching in the northern East China Sea.