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Reproductive biology of Bigeye Tuna, Thunnus obesus, (Scombridae) in the eastern and central tropical Pacific Ocean

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Abstract

Understanding the reproductive potential of any species is of great importance for resource assessment and management. We studied the reproductive biology of Bigeye Tuna, Thunnus obesus, based on 1283 samples taken from the Chinese longline vessels in the eastern and central Tropical Pacific Ocean during February through November 2006. The female-male ratio was 1.0 : 1.5 and males were predominant in all length classes except for the length class of 166–170 cm (fork length). Males dominated in sizes larger than 171 cm, all specimens of 192 cm or larger were males. The main spawning period of Bigeye Tuna was between March and November. Gonadosomatic rates of males were larger than those of females. Statistically, female and male Bigeye Tuna had no significant reproductive seasonality. The observed minimum length at sexual maturity for female Bigeye Tuna was 94 cm. Length at 50% sexual maturity of female Bigeye Tuna was estimated at 107.8 cm, and maturation rate was 0.106 cm−1. The results derived in this study provide the information critical to our understanding of key life history parameters of Bigeye Tuna in tropic Pacific Ocean.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the Chinese scientific fishery observer Wei Liu aboard China longline vessels for collecting samples. We acknowledge Professor Yong Chen of the School of Marine Sciences, University of Maine for his constructive comments on the manuscript. The present study is sponsored by the following funding, including Shanghai (China) Leading Academic Project grant No. S30702, Special Science and Technology Research Funds for Shanghai Universities and Colleges to Select and Foster Excellent Young Teachers grant No. SSC-07011, Innovation Program of Shanghai Municipal Education Commission grant No. 09YZ275, The Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education (RFDP) No. 20093104120005, and Initial Doctoral Funding of Shanghai Ocean University grant No. B-8202-07-0279.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Key Laboratory of Shanghai Education Commission for Oceanic Fisheries Resources Exploitation, College of Marine Sciences, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai, 201306, China

    Guoping Zhu, Xiaojie Dai, Liuxiong Xu & Yingqi Zhou

  2. The Key Laboratory of Sustainable Exploitation of Oceanic Fisheries Resources, Shanghai Ocean University, Ministry of Education, Shanghai, 201306, China

    Guoping Zhu, Xiaojie Dai, Liuxiong Xu & Yingqi Zhou

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  1. Guoping Zhu
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  2. Xiaojie Dai
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  3. Liuxiong Xu
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Correspondence to Guoping Zhu.

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Zhu, G., Dai, X., Xu, L. et al. Reproductive biology of Bigeye Tuna, Thunnus obesus, (Scombridae) in the eastern and central tropical Pacific Ocean. Environ Biol Fish 88, 253–260 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-010-9636-7

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