Morphological characterization of gonadal sex differentiation in Brycon orbignyanus (Characiformes, Characidae)

• Grant number: 12/03974-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: May 01, 2012
• End date: December 31, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Fishery Resources and Fishery Engineering - Aquaculture
• Principal Investigator: Rosicleire Veríssimo Silveira
• Grantee: Aline Barbosa Zonatto
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Engenharia (FEIS). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Ilha Solteira. Ilha Solteira , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The Brazil contains 55% of freshwater species recorded in the Neotropical region, being the most numerous family Characidae. Many of its species have great potential for fish farming, such as piracanjuba, Brycon orbignyanus (subfamily Bryconinae), which has high commercial value because it has high growth rate, meat tasty and pleasing appearance and be an aggressive fish, interesting feature for sport fishing. However, the species is endangered and has induced reproductive difficulties, necessitating knowledge of the gonadal morphogenesis and the period of sexual differentiation as a basis for the development of techniques to improve the production of the species, such as the sex reversal. Thus, aiming at better utilization of the reproductive period of the species, collections were made of larvae and juveniles during the period December 2011 to January 2012, from induced spawning of the restocking program of Companhia Energetica de Sao Paulo (CESP), located the city of Três Lagoas, MS. The larvae and juveniles collected (from the time of hatching until the 50th day of development) were fixed and processed for analysis under light microscope. Therefore, the description of the gonadal morphogenesis of B. orbignyanus objective determination of the period of sexual differentiation of the species in order to assist in the studies of sex reversal for the species. (AU)