Size at sex change and reproductive cycle of the limpets Patella vulgata and Patella ulyssiponensis (Mollusca: Patellogastropoda) from intertidal rocky shores of the Algarve coast (southern Portugal)

Vasconcelos, Paulo; Umapathy, Uthesh; Moura, Paula; Pereira, Fábio; Carvalho, André N.; Gaspar, Miguel

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/14623

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Size at sex change and reproductive cycle of the limpets Patella vulgata and Patella ulyssiponensis Mollusca Patellogastropoda from intertidal rocky.pdf		4.6 MB	Adobe PDF	Download

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Abstract(s)

This study describes the reproductive cycle of the common limpet (Patella vulgata) and rough limpet (Patella ulyssiponensis) from the Algarve coast (southern Portugal). Individuals of both species were sampled monthly during two consecutive years, and subjected to gonad histology and calculation of the mean gonadal index (GI). Both species had balanced sex ratios (P. vulgata = 1M: 0.98F; P. ulyssiponensis = 1M: 1.03F), similar size-frequency distribution between sexes, and equivalent mean shell lengths (SL) and total weights (TW) between males and females. In these protandrous hermaphrodites, the estimated size at sex change was slightly smaller in P. vulgata (SL50 approximate to 29 mm) than in P. ulyssiponensis (SL50 approximate to 36 mm). The reproductive cycles of both species were characterised by a main spawning season in early spring to early summer, sometimes including subsidiary spawning events. A comparison of the main spawning season throughout the species distributional ranges revealed that populations of P. vulgata and P. ulyssiponensis from southern Portugal have later spawning periods than other populations from the northeastern Atlantic Ocean. The present information is relevant for conservation purposes and for the proposal of management measures for the harvesting activity targeting P. vulgata and P. ulyssiponensis in southern Portugal.