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vol-36Reproductive strategy of the black lip pearl oyster, Pinctada
margaritifera (Linnaeus, 1758) in Red Sea, Egyptian Waters
Mohamed M.A. Zeid2
; Fatma A. Abdel Razek1
; El Sayed A. E. Hamed1
and Somaya M. Taha1
.
1National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries, Alexandria, Egypt
2 Faculty of Science, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt
E-mail: [email protected]
Received 19th July 2010, Accepted 4
th August 2010
Abstract
The reproductive conditions of the pearl oyster Pinctada margaritifera (Linnaeus) were examined based on
240 specimens, collected north and south coast of Red Sea of Egypt during the period from September, 2006 to
August, 2007. Histological observations on gonadal development indicated that Pinctada margaritifera females had
one spawning period a year in summer season in both of the areas. The spawning continued till early autumn
months, however, by December all the collected samples were in the spent condition and some of them were at the
resting stage with synchronization between both males and females. Spawning of southern area population starts as
early as April at which the water temperature is normally higher by about five degrees in south part than that of the
north part. This indicates that the onset of reproduction appears to be regulated by sea surface temperature. The
results of this study can be applied to the induction of spawning and the production of seeds in the aquaculture
system of this pearl oyster species in Egypt.
Keywords: Pinctada margaritifera; Gameto gensis; gonadal development; spawning; Red Sea; Egypt.
