Annual reproductive cycle of a successful Lessepsian immigrant in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, Pomadasys stridens (Forsskål, 1775) (Family: Haemulidae)

ABSTRACT

The striped piggy, Pomadasys stridens (Forsskål, 1775), is one of the successfully colonized Lessepsian immigrants entering the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal. This study was carried out to understand to what extent the reproduction strategy adopted by this species had played a role in its successful establishment. The study is based on samples collected during the monthly trawl surveys conducted between January 2017 to November 2020 in the Northeast Mediterranean. The annual gonadal development cycle was estimated by observing the Gonadosomatic Index changes. Seasonal patterns in energy intake and allocation were acquired from Hepatosomatic, Digestosomatic, and Relative Body Condition indices. The results indicated that the species has prolonged gonadal development periods, during which spawning occurs twice, in early summer and at the onset of the winter. A comparison of all indices involved indicated that the species feeds and develops gonads at the same time before summer spawning, feeds heavily and stores energy during the warmest period, and uses the stored energy in the winter spawning. As these features do not differ much from their congenerics inhabiting the geography they originated from, it is suggested that it was not the ecological plasticity of the species that is the basis of their success but the reproductive traits they have fitted well to the Mediterranean Ecosystem.

KEYWORDS:

• Lessepsian migration
• Pomadasys stridens
• reproduction
• Eastern Mediterranean
• trawl survey
• gonadosomatic index

Acknowledgement

The authors are immensely thankful to the technician Hasan Pınar who conducted the laboratory work with the help of Mertkan Tüer. Last but not least, the authors are grateful to the graduate students taking part in the trawl surveys and the crew of RV LAMAS-1; without their help, this work could have never been realized.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The data used in this study was collected during trawl surveys conducted within the framework of two projects funded by the Turkish Scientific and Technical Council (TÜBİTAK) (Project No: 117Y396) and the Turkish Ministry of Development (DEKOSIM, BAP-08-11-DPT2012K120880). Deniz Eşkinat and Ali Cemal Gücü acknowledge support by the TÜBİTAK Project No: 120Y347.