| Size at sexual maturity was investigated in 346 queen conch, Strombus gigas, collected from the Archipelago of San Andres, Providencia and Santa Catalina (SAI), Colombia. Size at sexual maturity is defined as the size (based on total shell length and lip thickness) at which 50% of the population of queen conch sampled had mature and emission gonad developmental stages, based on microscopic examination (samples of gonads were processed by standardized histological methods). Only 12.14% of whole samples had mature and emission gonad developmental stages. The size at sexual maturity based on total shell length (STmat) was estimated to be STmat=249 mm for females (n=14), STmat=234 mm for males (n=28) and STmat=241 mm for both sexes (n=42). Lip thickness... |
