Skip Navigation


ICES Journal of Marine Science: Journal du Conseil Advance Access originally published online on August 11, 2009
ICES Journal of Marine Science: Journal du Conseil 2009 66(10):2205-2210; doi:10.1093/icesjms/fsp211
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
66/10/2205    most recent
fsp211v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Gordoa, A.
Right arrow Articles by Illas, X.
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Gordoa, A.
Right arrow Articles by Illas, X.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© 2009 International Council for the Exploration of the Sea. Published by Oxford Journals. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Determination of Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) spawning time within a transport cage in the western Mediterranean

Ana Gordoa1, Maria Pilar Olivar2, Raquel Arevalo1, Jordi Viñas3, Balbina Molí2 and Xenia Illas1

1 Centro de Estudios Avanzados de Blanes (CSIC), Acc. Cala Sant. Francesc 14, 17300 Blanes, Girona, Spain
2 Institut de Ciències del Mar (CSIC), Passeig Marítim de la Barceloneta 37-49, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
3 Laboratori d'Ictilogia Genètica, Departatment de Biologia, Universitat de Girona, 17071 Girona, Spain

Correspondence to A. Gordoa: tel: +34 972336101; fax: +34 972337806; e-mail: gordoa{at}ceab.csic.es

Gordoa, A., Olivar, M. P., Arevalo, R., Viñas, J., Molí, B., and Illas, X. 2009. Determination of Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) spawning time within a transport cage in the western Mediterranean. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 66: 2205–2210.

For the first time, tuna spawning in a transport cage being towed from the western Mediterranean spawning ground to a fattening facility off the coast of northeastern Spain was examined during the 2008 fishing season. Daylight and night surface plankton samples were collected using bongo nets located in front of and behind the transport cage. The results for the different time intervals revealed clear and massive nocturnal spawning from 03:00 to 05:00, when the rear bongo was completely jammed with eggs (up to 250 000–300 000 eggs per 1000 m3). Egg size and morphology were consistent with the features of Thunnus thynnus eggs, and identification was confirmed by genetic analysis. Microscopic examination showed the eggs to be in the very early developmental stages. Spawning took place every night over the entire journey. The study showed that neither captivity nor handling/environmental changes along the route inhibited T. thynnus spawning to a very precise biological clock. The study also revealed the diel temporal concurrence of T. thynnus spawning and jellyfish larvae at the sea surface.

Keywords: Atlantic bluefin tuna, eggs, jellyfish larvae, Mediterranean, spawning period, Thunnus thynnus

Received 18 March 2009; accepted 26 June 2009; advance access publication 11 August 2009.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.