426 



Courtship and spawning behaviors of 

 carangid species in Belize 



Rachel T. Graham 



Wildlife Conservation Society 



P.O. Box 37 



Punta Gorda, Belize 



E-mail address: rgraham@wcs.org 



Daniel W. Castellanos 



Monkey River Village 

 Toledo District, Belize 



Many species of reef fish aggre- 

 gate seasonally in large numbers 

 to spawn at predictable times and 

 sites (Johannes, 1978; Sadovy, 1996; 

 Domeier and Colin, 1997). Although 

 spawning behavior has been observed 

 for many reef fish in the wild (Wick- 

 lund, 1969; Smith, 1972; Johannes, 

 1978; Sadovy et al., 1994; Aguilar 

 Perera and Aguilar Davila, 1996), 

 few records exist of observations on 

 the courtship or natural spawning for 

 the commercially important family 

 Carangidae (jacks) (von Westernha- 

 gen, 1974; Johannes, 1981; Sala et 

 al., 2003). In this study, we present 

 the first observations on the natural 

 spawning behavior of the economi- 

 cally-valuable permit (Trachinotus 

 falcatus) (Linnaeus, 1758) from the 

 full to new moon period at reef prom- 

 ontories in Belize, with notes on the 

 spawning of the yellow jack (Caran- 

 goides bartholomaei) (Cuvier, 1833), 

 and the courtship of five other caran- 

 gid species. 



Permit belong to the family Ca- 

 rangidae and are broadly distrib- 

 uted in the western Atlantic Ocean 

 from Massachusetts to southeastern 

 Brazil, including the Caribbean Sea 

 and Gulf of Mexico (Smith, 1997). 

 Considered an inshore pelagic species 

 (Valdez Munoz and Mochek, 2001) 

 that spawns offshore, permit utilize a 

 range of habitats that include coastal 

 mangroves and seagrass beds, reef 

 flats, and fore-reef areas during their 

 life-cycle (Crabtree et al., 2002). Per- 

 mit are reported to feed during the 

 day and may show similar feeding 



characteristics to the closely related 

 T. carolinus that displays a clear cir- 

 cadian rhythm entrained to the light 

 phase during its feeding period (Heil- 

 man and Spieler, 1999). According to 

 otolith analysis of fish caught in Flor- 

 ida, permit live to at least 23 years 

 and reach a maximum published fork 

 length of 110 cm and a weight of 23 

 kg (Crabtree et al., 2002). 12 Permit 

 are gonochoristic and Crabtree et al. 

 (2002) recorded 50% sexual matu- 

 rity for females at 547 mm FL or 3.1 

 years and males at 486 mm FL and 

 2.3 years. Permit exhibit a protract- 

 ed spawning season from March to 

 September in Cuba ( Garcia- Cagide et 

 al., 2001) and from March to July in 

 Florida (Crabtree et al., 2002). High 

 gonadosomatic indices recorded for 

 March and maturation of oocytes 

 noted in late June- July (Crabtree et 

 al., 2002) support the observations by 

 Garcia-Cagide et al. (2001) that per- 

 mit are batch spawners and have an 

 asynchronous cycle of vitellogenesis. 

 Spawning cued by the full moon has 

 been recorded in many species of reef 

 and inshore fish (Johannes, 1978, 

 1981; Moyer et al., 1983; Crabtree, 

 1995; Hoque et al., 1999). Macro- 

 scopic gonadal analysis and observa- 

 tions on the timing of courtship and 

 spawning in several carangid species 

 in the wild (Johannes, 1981; Sala 

 et al., 2003), coupled with gonadal 

 sampling observations on the cap- 

 tive spawning behavior of the related 

 bluefin trevally (Caranx melampygus) 

 (Moriwake et al., 2001), further indi- 

 cate that permit and other carangids 



display circa lunar periodicity when 

 spawning naturally. 



Permit represent a valuable re- 

 source for recreational fishermen 

 throughout their range. In Florida, 

 recreational fisheries land more than 

 100,000 fish per year, but declines in 

 landings from 1991 to date prompted 

 regulation (Crabtree et al., 2002) and 

 a move towards catch-and-release of 

 fish. As such, Belize is rapidly be- 

 coming known as a world-class fly- 

 fishing location due to its abundance 

 of permit. The fishery is highly lucra- 

 tive; flynshers pay up to US$500 per 

 day in Belize to catch and release a 

 permit. This niche tourism industry 

 has also become an economic alter- 

 native for local fishermen (Heyman 

 and Graham 3 ). Consequently, infor- 

 mation on the timing and behavior of 

 reproduction of permit can underpin 

 conservation efforts that focus on a 

 vulnerable stage in their life cycle. 



1 The IGFA (International Game Fishing 

 Association) notes a record length for 

 permit of 122 cm FL. 2001. Database 

 of IGFA angling records until 2001. 

 IGFA, Dania Beach, Florida, 33004. 



2 The United Nations notes a maximum 

 weight of 36 kg for a permit. (Cervigon, 

 F., R. Cipriani, W. Fischer, L. Garib- 

 aldi, M. Hendrickx, A.J. Lemus, R. 

 Marquez, J. M. Poutiers, G. Robaina 

 and B. Rodriguez. 1992. Fichas FAO 

 de identificacidn de especies para los 

 fines de la pesca. Guia de campo de las 

 especies comerciales marinas y de aquas 

 salobres de la costa septentrional de Sur 

 America, 513 p. FAO. Rome. 



3 Heyman W. D., and R. T. Graham. 

 2000. The voice of the fishermen of 

 Southern Belize, 44 p. TIDE (Toledo 

 Institute for Environment and Devel- 

 opment), P.O. Box 150, Punta Gorda, 

 Belize. 



Manuscript submitted 9 December 2003 

 to the Scientific Editor's Office. 



Manuscript approved for publication 



9 November 2004 by the Scientific Editor. 



Fish. Bull. 103:426-432 (2005). 



