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SINGLE PAPER
Volume 16, Issue 3
15 July 2010
Maribel Carrera- Fernández, Felipe Galván-Magaña and B. Patricia Ceballos- Vázquez:
Reproductive biology of the blue shark Prionace glauca (Chondrichthyes: Carcharhinidae) off Baja California Sur, México, pp. 101-110
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SINGLE PAPER
Volume 16, Issue 3
15 July 2010
Maribel Carrera- Fernández, Felipe Galván-Magaña and B. Patricia Ceballos- Vázquez:
Reproductive biology of the blue shark Prionace glauca (Chondrichthyes: Carcharhinidae) off Baja California Sur, México, pp. 101-110
Abstract
The blue shark Prionace glauca (Linnaeus) is the most abundant
species in the artisanal shark fishery off the western coast of Baja
California Sur, Mexico. However, there is no biological information on
the reproduction of blue sharks in this area. A total of 1033 sharks
(631 males and 402 females) were sampled from August 2000 to March 2003.
The sex ratio was 0.63F:1M. The size at maturity (L50) for males was
184 cm total length (TL) and 196 cm TL for females. The litter size
ranged from 9 to 64, with a mode of 33 embryos. Ovulation,
fertilization, presence of uterine eggs and the smallest embryos were
observed in August and September; whereas complete embryos were recorded
in May and July, with a gestation period of 9 to 11 months. We found
compound spermatozeugmata in the seminal vesicle of mature males and
sperm in the oviducal glands of females in different maturity stages,
which indicate long-term sperm storage. We confirm that the main portion
of the shark fishery in Baja California Sur is supported by juvenile
sharks.
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Boutique 
