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RESEARCH ARTICLE

Reproductive biology of the pelagic stingray, Pteroplatytrygon violacea (Bonaparte, 1832), in the equatorial and south-western Atlantic Ocean

D. P. Veras A B E , F. H. V. Hazin B , I. S. L. Branco B , M. T. Tolotti A C and G. H. Burgess D
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Departamento de Oceanografia, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE), Av. Arquitetura s/n, Cidade Universitária, CEP 50740-550, Recife-PE, Brazil.

B Laboratório de Oceanografia Pesqueira (LOP), Departamento de Pesca e Aquicultura (DEPAq), Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco (UFRPE), Av. D. Manoel de Medeiros, s/n, Dois Irmãos, CEP 52171-900, Recife, PE, Brazil.

C Laboratório de Ecologia Marinha (LEMAR), Departamento de Pesca e Aquicultura (DEPAq), Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco (UFRPE), Av. D. Manoel de Medeiros, s/n, Dois Irmãos, CEP 52171-900, Recife, PE, Brazil.

D Florida Program for Shark Research, Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Dickinson Hall, Museum Road, PO Box 117800, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA.

E Corresponding author. Email: drausioveras@hotmail.com

Marine and Freshwater Research 65(11) 1035-1044 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF13008
Submitted: 9 January 2014  Accepted: 10 April 2014   Published: 10 October 2014

Abstract

From October 2005 to March 2010, a total of 480 pelagic stingray, Pteroplatytrygon violacea, specimens, 188 females and 292 males (0.64 female : 1 male), were taken in the equatorial and south-western Atlantic by the commercial tuna longline fishery and their reproductive biology was studied. Disc widths (DW) ranged from 28.0 to 66.0 cm for females and from 34.0 to 59.6 cm for males. Size at first sexual maturity was estimated at ~48.0 cm DW (first pregnant female) for females and ~41.0 cm DW for males. Ovarian fecundity, considering only follicles larger than 0.5 cm in diameter, ranged from 1 to 17 follicles per female, while the uterine fecundity of embryos in pregnant females in Stages 2 and 3 ranged from 1 to 5 embryos per female. The sex ratio between the embryos was almost equal (1.08 female : 1 male) and the size at birth was 19.0 cm DW.

Additional keywords: Brazil, by-catch, Dasyatidae, elasmobranchs, maturity, reproduction.


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