Aspectos da reprodução e alimentação da moréia-pintada, Gymnothorax moringa (Nelson, 2006), capturada no litoral norte do estado de Pernambuco

Abstract

The spotted moray, Gymnothorax moringa, Muraenidae family, is an important species of marine fish, abundant in coral reefs, rocky bottoms and even in sandy areas covered with vegetation. It is very common in the Tropical Atlantic where it occurs along its western border, From North Carolina and Bermuda, to the southeast coats of Brazil. In the present work, the feeding habits of the species were studied, by means of its diet composition. With this objective, 403 stomachs were analyzed, of which only 126 (24.3%) had contents. Only seven food items were identified, all of them teleosts. The index of relative importance (IIR) was used to identify the order of importance of each item. The prey item with the highest IIR was the goatfish, Pseudopeneus maculatus, followed by other teleosts. The repletion index (empty ¼ filled ² / 4 filled and filled) was also determined, whereby 74.6% of the stomachs were empty, 8.5% ¼ filled, 3.1% ½ filled, and 12.7% were full. There was no stomach 3/4 filled. For the study of their reproductive biology, 416 specimens, caught from January 2013 to December 2014, were analyzed. It was possible to identify the sex of 370 individuals: 183 males, with a total length (CT) ranging from 47 cm to 109 cm (mean 73.8 cm) and 187 females, with CT between 47 cm and 97 cm (mean 70.0 cm). The average fertility was 30.332 oocytes. The monthly mean gonosomatic index (IGS) and the distribution of maturation stages suggest a higher reproductive activity for the species in Pernambuco coast, during summer months, between October and January.