Mating behaviour and gamete release in gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata, Linnaeus 1758) held in captivity

• Published in: Spanish Journal of Agricultural Research
• Main Authors: Ibarra-Zatarain Zohar, Duncan Neil
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) 2015-03-01
• Subjects: mate selection; pair group mass spawning; rush; aggregation
• Online Access: http://revistas.inia.es/index.php/sjar/article/view/6750/2229
• ISSN: 1695-971X; 2171-9292

The present study aimed to describe the reproductive behaviour of gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) in captivity. Twenty-four mature gilthead seabream, divided in two tanks, were utilized for the present study. Reproductive behaviour was recorded using submersibles cameras. A total of 67 spawning events were analysed. The mean duration time that gilthead seabream spent spawning was 54 ± 4 min/day, during which mean number of individual spawning events was 5.6 ± 0.2. The mean volume of eggs produced by both broodstocks was 405 ± 13.4 mL with a fertilization rate of 91.6 ± 0.4%. The reproductive behaviour began with a schooling behaviour and then forming light aggregations. From an aggregation or an encounter while swimming freely a female initiated a spawning rush followed by one or more males to gametes liberation. The spawning rush was brief, 1.6 ± 0.5 sec, over an approximately 1.7 ± 0.2 m distance from the tank bottom to the water surface. Pair spawning, between a single female and male, was the most common (71.6%). Group spawning was less common and involved a single female spawning with two males (22.5%) or three males (4.9%). Spawning rushes involving more than one female were not observed. Gilthead seabream in the present study presented a tendency to pair spawn and eggs collected as a “spawn” were actually the sum of many separate spawning events over a short time period. This is the first description of gilthead seabream spawning and the findings help to understand microsatellite based observations of spawning kinetics.