CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

Introduction: Sea urchin gonads (roe or uni) are considered a culinary delicacyworldwide. However, only a few species are considered to be edible and are commercialized. Thesea urchin Tripneustes depressus has generated the interest of producers in Baja California Sur,Mexico, due to the quality of its gonads. To set the biological basis for designing a managementstrategy for T. depressus is key prior to consider its commercial exploitation. Objective: Todetermine its reproductive season through description of the gonad stages and the reproductivecycle of T. depressus and establish its relationship with environmental factors. Methods:Monthly samples were collected over an annual cycle (October 2016-September 2017); in-situtemperature and photoperiod were recorded. From a sample of 1 055 specimens, the demographiccharacteristics of the sea urchin population were evaluated using total weight (g) and testdiameter (cm) data. The gonads of 178 sea urchins were subjected to histological analysis; sex,gonad wet weight, adjusted gonad weight, and gonad stages were determined, and the gonad andcondition indices were calculated. Results: Average test diameter was 9.70 ± 0.03 cm (5-12.50cm). Based on the proportion into the gonad of sexual (gametes) and somatic (nutritivephagocytes) cells, five gonad stages (growing, premature, mature, spawning, and intergametic) were described for both sexes. There were two times of the year when gonads were heaviest andclosely corresponded to the growing stage, coinciding with the highest proportions of nutritivephagocytes. Gonad wet weight was positively correlated with photoperiod; gonad development(growing and premature stages) occurs in the months with the longest daylight periods, whereasthe spawning stage was observed in the months with the shortest daylight periods. Conclusions:Gonad wet weight and adjusted gonad weight were found to be good indicators of thereproductive season of T. depressus. The lowest gonad wet weights were recorded incorrespondence with the shortest daylight and the spawning peak (January and March).

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