Reproductive biology of Jinga Shrimp (Metapenaeus affinis) in coastal waters of Hormozgan Province, southern Iran

Abstract

The main goal of this study was to understand the reproductive biology of Jinga Shrimp (Metapenaeus affinis) that is found in coastal waters of Hormozgan Province and is relatively unknown to the scientific community. To achieve this goal, we conducted a monthly sampling over the years 2001 to 2003 sweeping a long area from Bandar Abbass to Sirik in the south of Iran. We found that the sex ratio is not 1:1 either seasonally (except in autumn 2001) or annually (p<0.05). The peak of spawning of the shrimp observed in spring and also calculated the carapace length of female shrimps at first maturity (LM50) as 27.16mm.