New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research abstracts
Population differences in the reproductive biology of
Evechinus chloroticus (Echinoidea: Echinometridae)
PAUL E. McSHANE
PETER K. GERRING
OWEN A. ANDERSON
ROB A. STEWART
National Institute of Water & Atmospheric
Research Ltd
P. O. Box 14-901, Kilbirnie
Wellington, New Zealand
Abstract We describe the reproductive biology of E.
chloroticus from four localities in New Zealand waters. Most of the work
was done at Dusky Sound where we found an asynchrony in gonad development among
sites separated by hundreds of metres. Spawning occurred in summer in Dusky
Sound, but there was little reproductive seasonality evident in individuals
from a northern locality, Reef Bay. In Dusky Sound, the relative size of gonads
of very large individuals (> 130 mm diameter) was small, but fertilisation
trials showed that the gametes were viable. The size at first maturity differed
between males and females with males maturing at a smaller size (about 50 mm
diameter) than females (about 65 mm diameter). The size at first maturity
varied among localities, with individuals from the other localities (D'Urville
Island, Arapawa Island, Reef Bay) maturing at a smaller size (sexes combined)
than those from Dusky Sound.
Keywords sea urchins; kina; Evechinus chloroticus;
reproduction; fisheries; spawning; fecundity; fertilisation; Dusky Sound
New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, 1996, Vol 30:
333-339
0228-8330/96/3003-0333 $2.50/0 (c) The Royal Society of New Zealand
1996
PDF file of entire paper: medium quality (539K); (scanned from paper original: notes about this process)
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