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Individual spawning performance and mating pair combinations in captive grouper aggregations

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Abstract

Spawning aggregations have been widely observed in fish. However, individual reproductive performance in aggregations has rarely been measured because of the lack of techniques for individual identification throughout the spawning period. Here, we investigated the individual reproductive performance of four male and 12 female white-streaked groupers (Epinephelus ongus) in simulated spawning aggregations in captivity. Reproductive behaviour was observed by monitoring the simultaneous ascending rush by a pair or group of fish with a fine-scale depth data logger. In this study, we defined verified spawning events as synchronised ascents that met the extraction conditions based on night observations and a complementary experiment. During the experiment, 37 verified spawning events were extracted between four males and ten females; twenty-nine of the verified spawning events involved a single female and a single male, and eight events involved a single female and two males. One presumed and seven false spawning events were also identified. Individuals with higher lipid densities engaged in more verified spawning events, resulting in a longer spawning period. Moreover, the males spawned more (11.3 ± 4.6 as the first or second male) than the females (3.7 ± 1.8). The entire spawning period lasted 6 days; however, each individual was active only for a few days, and the timing varied among individuals. There were no specific mating pair combinations for the multiple verified spawning events. Further application of our technique would be instrumental in understanding the reproductive performance of fish with spawning aggregations.

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The datasets generated and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on request.

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Acknowledgements

We thank A. Nanami for his support with fish sampling and Y. Kawabata for his constructive comments that improved this manuscript.

Funding

This study was funded by the Fisheries Technology Institute’s Internal Fund.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environment and Fisheries Applied Techniques Research Department, Fisheries Technology Institute, Japan Fisheries Research and Education Agency, Ishigaki, Okinawa, 907-0451, Japan

    Junichi Okuyama

  2. Aquaculture Research Department, Fisheries Technology Institute, Japan Fisheries Research and Education Agency, Ishigaki, Okinawa, 907-0451, Japan

    Tomofumi Yamaguchi

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  1. Junichi Okuyama
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  2. Tomofumi Yamaguchi
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J.O. and T.Y. conceived, designed, and conducted this study. J.O. drafted the manuscript. T.Y. revised the manuscript. All authors gave final approval for publication and agree to be held accountable for the work performed therein.

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Correspondence to Junichi Okuyama.

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This study was approved by the Animal Experimentation Committee of the Fisheries Technology Institute (2019–005).

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Okuyama, J., Yamaguchi, T. Individual spawning performance and mating pair combinations in captive grouper aggregations. Environ Biol Fish 105, 385–401 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-022-01232-w

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