Ethmalosa fimbriata (Bowdich 1825), a clupeid fish that exhibits elevated batch fecundity in hypersaline waters

Abstract

Little is known about the concerted influence of temperature and salinity on the fecundity of clupeid fishes. Due to a globally changing climate, both physical parameters might act as stressors, severely affecting the reproductive potential of clupeid fish populations inhabiting tropical estuaries. Differences in relative batch fecundities, the gonado-somatic index, and the condition index of bonga shad (Ethmalosa fimbriata) were analysed in individual females sampled at the Senegalese coast and inside the inverse Sine Saloum estuary, where salinity increases upstream in all seasons. Multiple linear regression models on fecundity and gonadal energy storage show that clupeids can adapt towards increasing their reproductive investment at temperatures (26–30◦C) and salinities (42–51), which by far exceed marine conditions, in an effort to maximize recruitment success. This reproductive strategy, however, is accompanied by a trade-off between reproductive effort and somatic growth, which ultimately limits the species’ reproductive potential inside the estuary. The observed high variability in batch fecundities might be a viable mechanism to adjust to fluctuating and rather extreme environmental conditions. Understanding the spawning biology of exploited clupeid fishes in drastically changing environments is crucial for evaluating the reproductive potential of stocks at the outer reach of their physiological performance curve.