Reproduction of the sea urchin Pseudechinus magellanicus (Echinoidea: Temnopleuridae) from Golfo Nuevo, Argentina

EZEQUIEL M. MARZINELLI; GREGORIO BIGATTI; JULIANA GIMÉNEZ; PABLO E. PENCHASZADEH

BULLETIN OF MARINE SCIENCE

ROSENSTIEL SCH MAR ATMOS SCI

Año: 2006 vol. 79 p. 127 - 136

0007-4977

ABSTRACT Pseudechinus magellanicus (Philippi, 1857) is a common and abundant sea ur-chin along the Argentinean coast. Gonad index cycle was studied for this species in Golfo Nuevo, Patagonia, from May 2001 to March 2003. Comparative studies of gonad index and gonad histology were performed for the year 2002. Gonad in-dex reflects gonadal stages, showing two spawning peaks for the studied period. Major spawning occurred in winter and a second spawning event occurred during summer. Males and females spawned synchronously. Male gonads recovered faster than females after spawning, suggesting that females invest more time and energy in gametogenesis. Gonads were resorbed by both sexes. Gonad index was negatively correlated with photoperiod and water temperature with a lag period of 3 mo.