Title: Management and Reproduction of the Male Brushtooth Lizardfish Saurida undosquamis (Richardson) front Gulf of Suez, Egypt
Abstract:Age, growth and reproduction atSaurida undosquamis collected from Attaka fishing port from October 2004 to May 2005 was studied by examining 390 specimens caught by trawlers in Suez Gulf waters. The t...Age, growth and reproduction atSaurida undosquamis collected from Attaka fishing port from October 2004 to May 2005 was studied by examining 390 specimens caught by trawlers in Suez Gulf waters. The total length of males ranged between 9.5 cm to 29.8 cm. The length (L) - weight (W) relationship was estimated as W = 0.0042*3.1315. The age data derived from the length frequency data analyzed using the FISAT soft ware were used to calculate the growth parameters of the von Bertalanffy equation (1938). The estimated parameters were L^ = 31.03 cm, K = 0.44 and t = -1,059. The maximum age was 5 years. The 2-year age group was dominant in the catch. Macroscopic appearance of the testes demonstrated seven stages of maturity as virgin, maturing virgin , developing, developed, gravid, spawning and spent. Males recorded first sexual maturity at a total length 17.4 cm. Gonadosomatic index illustrated that this fish have prolonged spawning season nearly all the year round with main peak in May (2.6). The annual rates of total, natural and fishing mortality were calculated as 1.59, 1.32 and 0.27year"1 respectively. Exploitation rate E was estimated as 0.83. The relative yield per recruit was estimated using the parameters obtained for male. The results suggest that the present level of fishing and natural mortality are much higher than that gives the maximum yield per recruit.Read More