| ABSTRACT Reproductive biology affords fundamental features for the establishment of protective measures for fish. The aim of the present work therefore was to determine the reproductive features of the catfish, Hassar affinis, known locally as bico-de-flor, in three lakes of the Pindaré-Mearim Lake System, in the state of Maranhão, with the aim of subsidising the closed season. Monthly collections were carried out between July 2014 and July 2015, when 206 individuals were sampled from Lake Aquiri (LA), 247 from Lake Cajari (LC), and 126 from Lake Viana (LV). In the laboratory, each individual was weighed and measured; a ventral longitudinal incision was then made in order to observe the gonads macroscopically. They were then fixed in Bouin's solution for... |
