Reproductive Biology of Black Jewfish (Protonibea diacanthus) off the East Coast of Australia

Abstract

The black jewfish (Protonibea diacanthus) occurs in tropical coastal waters throughout the central Indo‐Pacific. It has long been valued as an important recreational and artisanal fishery species but has become increasingly targeted by commercial fisheries due to demand for its large swim bladder. To better understand how changes in fishing pressure may impact the sustainable exploitation of P. diacanthus populations throughout Eastern Australia, we evaluated the reproductive biology of the species across two management regions in Central Queensland. Reproductive characteristics studied included the size at maturity, fecundity, spawning mode, and season. Spawning periodicity was evaluated throughout the two major management regions and revealed an increase in the gonadosomatic index during the early austral spring, followed by evidence of spawning occurring from September through March with a peak from September to November. Females were found to produce ∼4.5 million ± 1.4 million oocytes (mean ± SE) per batch. Spawning periodicity did not vary latitudinally but was found to differ from other regions in northern Australia. The present study provides reliable maturity and fecundity information to improve future assessment and sustainable management of P. diacanthus.