Spawner size and the biological components of the reproduction process in Penaeus monodon Fabricius.

Abstract

The biological components of the reproduction process of Penaeus monodon spawners collected from the wild along Tigbauan-Guimbal coastal area, Philippines, were evaluated. Data were collected on wet body weight, eggs per female, egg size, egg quality, hatching rate and percentage survival at the first zoea stage. There was a general trend for number of eggs per female and egg size to increase with increasing body weight. However, the larger spawners were not the most efficient in terms of number of eggs per unit body weight. There was a significant positive correlation between body weight and number of eggs per female. Larger eggs may be associated with larger body size. However, the size of individual eggs tends to be dependent upon the total number of eggs spawned per female.