SONGKLANAKARIN JOURNAL OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Volume 41, No. 06, Month NOVEMBER, Year 2019, Pages 1404 - 1412

Growth and reproductive of babylonia areolata link 1807 in songkhla and pattani, the lower part of gulf of thailand

Rujinard Sriwoon and Naruporn Poonsud

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The ivory shell, Babylonia areolata, was sampled from commercially harvested resource areas in the lower part of the Gulf of Thailand: Rusamilae (RSM) and Songkhla (SKL). This study aimed to survey the presence of imposex and compare the size, frequency distribution, sex ratio, and gonadal stages of ivory shell. Shell length frequency distributions of B. areolata caught in RSM from October to December 2016 (n=135) ranged from 32.04 to 58.32 mm, and in SKL from October 2016 to January 2017 (n=149) ranged from 37.8 to 61.95 mm. The largest ivory shell that measured 61.95 mm in shell length (SL) was recorded at SKL. The mean SL was larger at the RSM site (50.31 mm) than at the SKL site (44.67 mm). Both of the SKL and RSM populations showed a bimodal length-frequency distribution with the smaller peak at a shell length less than the minimal landing size (MLS) at the RSM site and a larger peak at a shell length greater than the MLS. The males and females from RSM reached maturity at smaller sizes (44 mm and 36.49 mm, respectively), whereas the females at SKL reached maturity at 51.00 mm. In order to preserve the local fishery and to characterize the Babylon stock in the area, the reproductive biology of the species was studied in relation to sex and commercial size (45 to 61 mm). Five reproductive stages were defined for females on the basis of histological analysis. The shell lengths with mature gonads were 44 mm and 36.49 mm for males and females at RSM and 51 mm for females at SKL which exceeded the minimal landing size (45 mm). The sex ratio was significantly in favor of females; therefore, female mortality may not be directly attributable to imposex. Imposex accounted for 2.78% at RSM and 5.94% at SKL. This is the first report of imposex in B. areolata at SKL. Females from SKL showed mature gonads at a size of about 1.5 times larger (51.00 mm) than females from RSM (36.49 mm). This finding is especially important for a sustainable management of this fishery, taking into account that there are differences in size at maturity between populations.

Keywords

Babylonia areolata, imposex female, reproductive, Gulf of Thailand

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