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Male Pheromones Induce Ovulation in Female Honeycomb Groupers (Epinephelus merra): A Comprehensive Study of Spawning Aggregation Behavior and Ovarian Development

This study characterizes the spawning phenomena of the honeycomb grouper (Epinephelus merra), which is a lunar-synchronized spawner that spawns a few days after full moon. To elucidate the aggregation characteristics of wild honeycomb groupers, the numbers of males and females at the spawning ground...

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Autores principales: Amagai, Takafumi, Izumida, Daisuke, Murata, Ryosuke, Soyano, Kiyoshi
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8833890/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35159292
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/cells11030484
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author Amagai, Takafumi
Izumida, Daisuke
Murata, Ryosuke
Soyano, Kiyoshi
author_facet Amagai, Takafumi
Izumida, Daisuke
Murata, Ryosuke
Soyano, Kiyoshi
author_sort Amagai, Takafumi
collection PubMed
description This study characterizes the spawning phenomena of the honeycomb grouper (Epinephelus merra), which is a lunar-synchronized spawner that spawns a few days after full moon. To elucidate the aggregation characteristics of wild honeycomb groupers, the numbers of males and females at the spawning grounds were counted before and after the full moon. Approximately 20 males were consistently observed at the spawning grounds throughout the study period. Females appeared several days after full moon and rapidly increased in number, peaking four days after full moon (41 individuals). The maturation status of the females aggregating at the spawning grounds was investigated. The gonadosomatic index increased rapidly three days after full moon, and ovulation was confirmed. Individuals with ovulatory eggs were present for three days, after which the number of females at the spawning grounds decreased. Additionally, the role of males in final oocyte maturation (FOM) and ovulation in females during the spawning phase was investigated in captivity. FOM was induced in females reared in water with mature males, suggesting that male pheromones in the water induced FOM via activation of the hypothalamic–pituitary–gonadal axis. This suggests that spawning at the natural spawning grounds was the result of male–female interactions via pheromones.
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spelling pubmed-88338902022-02-12 Male Pheromones Induce Ovulation in Female Honeycomb Groupers (Epinephelus merra): A Comprehensive Study of Spawning Aggregation Behavior and Ovarian Development Amagai, Takafumi Izumida, Daisuke Murata, Ryosuke Soyano, Kiyoshi Cells Article This study characterizes the spawning phenomena of the honeycomb grouper (Epinephelus merra), which is a lunar-synchronized spawner that spawns a few days after full moon. To elucidate the aggregation characteristics of wild honeycomb groupers, the numbers of males and females at the spawning grounds were counted before and after the full moon. Approximately 20 males were consistently observed at the spawning grounds throughout the study period. Females appeared several days after full moon and rapidly increased in number, peaking four days after full moon (41 individuals). The maturation status of the females aggregating at the spawning grounds was investigated. The gonadosomatic index increased rapidly three days after full moon, and ovulation was confirmed. Individuals with ovulatory eggs were present for three days, after which the number of females at the spawning grounds decreased. Additionally, the role of males in final oocyte maturation (FOM) and ovulation in females during the spawning phase was investigated in captivity. FOM was induced in females reared in water with mature males, suggesting that male pheromones in the water induced FOM via activation of the hypothalamic–pituitary–gonadal axis. This suggests that spawning at the natural spawning grounds was the result of male–female interactions via pheromones. MDPI 2022-01-30 /pmc/articles/PMC8833890/ /pubmed/35159292 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/cells11030484 Text en © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Amagai, Takafumi
Izumida, Daisuke
Murata, Ryosuke
Soyano, Kiyoshi
Male Pheromones Induce Ovulation in Female Honeycomb Groupers (Epinephelus merra): A Comprehensive Study of Spawning Aggregation Behavior and Ovarian Development
title Male Pheromones Induce Ovulation in Female Honeycomb Groupers (Epinephelus merra): A Comprehensive Study of Spawning Aggregation Behavior and Ovarian Development
title_full Male Pheromones Induce Ovulation in Female Honeycomb Groupers (Epinephelus merra): A Comprehensive Study of Spawning Aggregation Behavior and Ovarian Development
title_fullStr Male Pheromones Induce Ovulation in Female Honeycomb Groupers (Epinephelus merra): A Comprehensive Study of Spawning Aggregation Behavior and Ovarian Development
title_full_unstemmed Male Pheromones Induce Ovulation in Female Honeycomb Groupers (Epinephelus merra): A Comprehensive Study of Spawning Aggregation Behavior and Ovarian Development
title_short Male Pheromones Induce Ovulation in Female Honeycomb Groupers (Epinephelus merra): A Comprehensive Study of Spawning Aggregation Behavior and Ovarian Development
title_sort male pheromones induce ovulation in female honeycomb groupers (epinephelus merra): a comprehensive study of spawning aggregation behavior and ovarian development
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8833890/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35159292
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/cells11030484
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