Growth and population assessment of the queen conch Strombus gigas (Mesogastropoda: Strombidae) by capture mark-recapture sampling in a natural protected area of the Mexican Caribbean
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The Inlet of Xel-Ha is used as a park for ecotourism, representing a sanctuary for the conservation of Pink Queen Conch. Increasing fishing pressure has led to the inclusion of the species in CITES. Most knowledge about the growth of the queen conch was generated through aquaculture, ocean enclosures or obtained using estimates derived from population dynamics. In this study we estimated the growth rate of juvenile S. gigas in a natural protected area by direct methods, during the period of April 2009 to January ]]>
-2, while the highest density was estimated for September 2010 (0.3074ind. m-2). The highest growth rate (0.27 ± 0.10mm ]]>
-1) was detected in juveniles with an initial size between 100-149mm, followed by conch <100mm, with an increase of 0.24 ± 0.05mm day-1. The growth rate decreased for individuals with an initial size between 150-199mm (0.18 ± 0.09mm day-1) and ]]>
-1). Variability in growth rate was high in conch 100-149mm and showed seasonal differences, with the highest growth rate in May 2010. Recruitment of juveniles was highest in October 2009 and February 2010. The population of Xel-Ha has grown in size and more large and juvenile conch could be found than in previous studies, indicating that Xel-ha park is working as a sanctuary for the conservation of the queen conch in Mexico’s Riviera Maya. The growth rate of juvenile conch in Xel-Ha is high and ]]>
S. gigas and that growth in natural conditions may be higher than in aquaculture systems. This information may be applied to fishery management as well as rehabilitation programs and aquaculture. Rev. Biol. Trop. 60 (Suppl. 1): 127-137. Epub 2012 March 01.
Keywords: Population size, Population density, Growth, Mark-Recapture, Recruitment, Nursery, Xel-Ha.
Resumen
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La Ensenada de Xel-Ha es usada como parque para ecoturismo y representa un santuario para la conservación del caracol rosado. El incremento en la presión de la pesca ha llevado a la inclusión de esta especie en CITES. Mucho del conocimiento acerca del crecimiento del caracol rosado ha sido generado a través de la acuicultura, encierros oceánicos o usando estimaciones derivadas de las dinámicas poblacionales. En este estudio estimamos la tasa de crecimiento de Strombus gigas ]]>
-2, ]]>
-2. La tasa de crecimiento más alta (0.27±0.10mm día-1) fue detectada en juveniles con una talla inicial entre 100-149mm, seguida por juveniles <100mm, con un incremento de 0.24±0.05mm día-1. La tasa de crecimiento disminuyó para individuos con una talla inicial entre 150-199mm (0.18±0.09mm día-1) y para organismos >200mm (0.08 ± 0.07mm día-1). La variabilidad en la tasas de crecimiento fue alta en individuos entre 100-149mm y mostró diferencias estacionales; con la tasa de ]]>
S. gigas y que el crecimiento en condiciones naturales es mayor que en sistemas de acuicultura. Esta información puede ser aplicada al manejo de pesquerías así como también en programas de rehabilitación y acuicultura.
Palabras clave: Strombus gigas, Área Marina Protegida, densidad poblacional, crecimiento, marcaje-recaptura, reclutamiento ]]>
The queen conch (Strombus gigas Linnaeus, 1758) is a large gastropod which represents an important food and economic resource in the Caribbean, being the second largest fishery after the spiny lobster (Appeldorn 1994) with landings of 6 000 metric tons, worth $60 million Dollars (Chakalall & Cochrane 1997). The increasing fishing pressure caused populations to decline in the 1980’s and led to the inclusion of this mollusk in the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES) and the list of commercially threatened species. In Mexico, on the Peninsula of ]]>
et al. 1997, Davis 2000, Moreno de la Torre & Aldana-Aranda 2007). The inlet of Xel-Ha is a natural marine protected area, which has been used since 1995 as a park for ecotourism. The main attraction is the observation of marine fauna in its natural environment; hence the removal of any flora or fauna is prohibited. Xel-Ha is considered a sanctuary for the conservation of the queen conch in the Mexican Riviera Maya, hosting an important number of juvenile conch (Peel et al. ]]>
Sound management of a resource such as S. gigas, as well as its rehabilitation, protection and the development of aquaculture require biological and ecological knowledge of the species, including growth rate, density and population structure. In this study we ]]>
S. gigas by direct methods in a natural protected area. Data was obtained through capture-markre-capture methods, allowing the natural foraging behavior, resource selection and dispersal of the animals.
Material and Methods ]]>
Study Site: Xel-Ha is located on the east coast of the Yucatan Peninsula (20°19’15’’-20°18’50’’N and 87°21’41’’-87°21’15’’W). The main oceanic current is the Caribbean Current (Organismo de Cuenca Península de Yucatán Dirección Técnica 2008). The area is characterized by medium wave energy and input of fresh water by underground rivers due to karstic conditions in the Peninsula (Organismo de Cuenca Península de Yucatán ]]>
“Cueva” is located in the south-arm of the Inlet and includes a small bay surrounded by mangroves (Rhizophora mangle). Persistent upwelling of cold freshwater from underground caves, maintains a permanent thermo-and halocline (1.25m). The site has a depth 1.5-3.5m. The bottom is composed of fine mud and sand formed of fragments of calcareous algae, mixed with rocks and dense isolated patches of ]]>
Padina sp., Halimeda sp. Penicillus sp. Amphiroa sp. Acanthophora sp., Caulerpa sp., Dictyota sp.), decaying mangrove leaves and inverted jellyfish (Cassiopea sp.) may be found.
Population Parameters: Between April 2009 and January 2011, nine surveys were conducted at the ]]>
Cueva in the Inlet of Xel-Ha sampling a total area 6 000m². Three samplings were conducted during 2009, five in 2010 and one in January 2011. All organisms were collected in free-dive, by three divers during 3 hours. We used mark-recapture method, marking all individuals with a plastic Dymo® tag, bearing a consecutive number, which was fixed to the spire of the conch with a plastic cable binder. In order to evaluate the size distribution and growth rate, shell length (SL) was determined for each individual, as well as lip thickness, using a precision vernier caliper (1mm). With the abundance ]]>
Nt = Σ (Ct Mt)/ Σ Rt
Relative density of conch in Cueva ]]>
Environmental parameters: Parameters for dissolved oxygen (O2), water temperature (°C), ]]>
3-) and nitrite (NO2-), measured at the study site between February 2009 and September 2010 were provided as a courtesy of Xel-Ha Park and were used to aid interpretation of growth rates over time. Data was obtained through the laboratory LAB-ACAMA (Laboratorio de Análisis de Calidad de Agua y Medio Ambiente S.A. de C.V) applying the procedures specified by the Mexican ]]>
Statistical Analysis: Using the program Infostat/S, we calculated the mean daily growth and standard deviation per size class (<100mm, 100-149mm, 150-199mm and ≥200mm) and the average growth per day in each class over time. Growth data was subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) to detect significant differences in growth rate over time and between classes, with a ]]>
Results
An average of 52.83%, of a total of 1418 individuals tagged, was recaptured in each sample. The recapture success was lowest in October 2009 with 19.93% and highest in November 2010 with 74.74% (Table 1). Using the method of Schnabel, population size was estimated for each month as well as the relative density of conch in the
Cueva. The relative average density was estimated at 0.1694 ± 0.0996ind. m-2, while the highest density was estimated for September 2010 with 0.3074 conches per square meter (Table 1).
Conches with SL less ]]>
Cueva representing less than 5%, except in October 2009 and February 2010, when 11.32% and 42.81% were captured, respectively. Relative abundance was highest for the class of conch between 150 and 199mm, which made up an average of 51.18% ± 19.57% of the population. Conch between 100 and 149mm represented on average 22.13% ± 18.69% of the population. ]]>
Fig. 1).
In April 2009, 94% of the conchs were ≥145mm (Fig. 2). The size classes with highest frequency of abundance in that month were the animals with SL between 215mm and 225mm, and the animals between 185mm and 195mm, making up 26% of the population. In June 2009 a significant increase in organisms <145mm was observed, representing 24% of the organisms sampled. Throughout October 2009 and February 2010 abundance of individuals <145mm increased dramatically, recording 63.42% and 67.73%. Modal class in October was 85-95mm (16.34%) and 125-135mm (17.24%) in February. In May the number of conch <145mm captured decreased again, with 22.5% and the modal class were juveniles between 145mm and 155mm, which represented 25.65% of the population. Modal class shifted in July to the class of 155-165mm (22.79%) and the abundance of conch <145mm continued to decline, reaching 9.35%. In September of the same year, we could detect the emergence of new recruits, with 21.65% of conch <145mm and modal class was 185-195mm (16.88%). Recruits kept emerging throughout November, with 20.05% of the animals <145mm and modal class shifted to 195- 205mm (16.7%). In January 2011 no conchs smaller than 115mm were found and 97.37% of the sampled population had a size ≥145mm and the class with highest frequency was 195- 205mm (17.74%).
For the growth rate analysis the population was divided into 4 size classes (Fig. 3). Growth was highest in animals of 100-149mm (n=306) with an average growth of 0.27 ± 0.1mm day-1. The animals of this size class showed at the same time the greatest variation in growth rates, with values between 0.01 and 0.63mm day-1. The growth rate had normal distribution (Shapiro-Wilks p=0.0856) and the median coincided with the mean. In juvenile conch smaller than 100mm (n=96) we calculated a growth rate of 0.24 ± 0.05mm day-1. Growth rate decreased to 0.18 ± 0.08mm day-1 in the class of 150 - 199mm (n=268) and was lowest with 0.08 ± 0.07mm day-1 in conch with a size ≥ 200mm (n=36) (Fig. 3). The growth rate showed significant differences between size classes (ANOVA F 3, 705 = 80.08, p <0.0001), but was similar between the classes <100mm and 100-149mm (Tuckey, p< 0.05).
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The growth showed significant differences over time in classes of <100mm (F5,95 = 8.01, p <0.0001), 100mm to 149mm (F 7, 305 = 36.98, p <0.0001) and 150mm to 199mm (F 7, 267 = 9.14; p <0.0001). There were no significant differences in the class of animals ≥ 200mm (F 6, 35 = 1.46; p = 0.2262). The highest growth rate was observed in May 2010, while the lowest growth was observed in October 2009 and November 2010 (Fig. 4 and Table 2).
No significant association was detected between growth rate and the relative density of conch (R=0.17; p = 0.69).
Xel-Ha Park occasionally carries out surveys to monitor water quality. The results corresponding to the ]]>
Cueva are shown in Figure 5.
Discussion
In the present work conch larger than 210mm were present in all samples and a total of 268 observations ]]>
et al. (2005) reported the absence of animals larger than 210mm at Cueva in the majority of the samples taken in a study conducted between 2001 and 2002. Xel-Ha initiated the Monitoring Program, as well as the actions for conservation and rehabilitation of the queen conch in October 2001. The conch population of Xel-Ha has grown in size and more large and juvenile conch could be found than in ]]>
Apparent recruitment was detected throughout most of the year, but was highest from June 2009 to May 2010 and September 2010 to November 2010. Aldana-Aranda et al. (2003) documented recruitment throughout most of ]]>
et al. (2005) documented higher recruitment in October 2002, February 2002 and February 2003, consistent with recruitment peaks observed in this study, in February and October.
In the present study population ]]>
et al. (2005) reported 4.2% of the population <100mm, 23.8% in the class of 100-150mm, 51.2% conch 150-200mm and 23.4% of the population >200mm in the period from November 2001 to August 2003, applying the same methodology. It can be noted that relative proportion of adults and juveniles has remained similar in comparison with previous studies, despite the increase in numbers of individuals, indicating the population is in an ]]>
In the present study, the population was small initially; however, we observed substantial recruitment of juveniles from October 2009 onwards, reaching a maximum density of 0.3074 conches per square meter in September 2010. Aldana-Aranda et al. (2005) estimated a population size of 632.15 ± 49.40 individuals in the period from 2001 to 2003, using ]]>
et al. (2010) reported average catches of 82.09 conches per sample in the period from January 2004 to January 2008 at the sampling site Cueva. The observed population growth was attributed to increased recruitment of juveniles.
The Density at Xel-Ha’s Cueva is ]]>
Table 3). The densities documented at Cueva were higher than densities reported for Alacranes Reef, where conch fishery was banned in 1988 (Pérez-Pérez & Aldana-Aranda 1998, Ríos-Lara et al. 1998, Pérez-Pérez & AldanaAranda 2000, Pérez-Pérez & Aldana-Aranda 2003), ranging from 0.0047 to 0.018 conch m-2.
They were also higher than the densities reported for the two most important commercial queen conch fishery grounds in Quintana Roo, Banco Chinchorro (0.0211 ± 0.035ind m-2) and Banco Cozumel (0.0079 ± 0.01653ind m-2). In Punta Gavilán, a coastal area without commercial fishing, densities range from 0.003 to 0.0052ind. m-2 (De Jesús-Navarrete et al. 1992, De Jesús-Navarrete & ]]>
-2 and 0.000298ind. m-2, where a permanent fishing ban has been implemented since 1985 and sanctuaries with surveillance have been created due to the rapid depletion of stocks of Queen Conch. The density at Xel-Ha’s Cueva is ]]>
The growth rate of juvenile conch in Cueva was high in comparison with those mentioned by other studies ]]>
Table 4). De Jesús-Navarrete (2001) obtained an average increase of 3.21mm month-1 (~0.1052mm day-1) in Punta Gavilán and 2.30mm month-1 (~0.075mm ]]>
-1) in Banco Chinchorro, maintaining conch in enclosures at density of 0.4ind. m-2. In other areas of the Caribbean similar increases were observed (Randall 1964, Alcolado 1976, Brownell 1977, Ray & Stoner 1994). Growth rates measured during this study were comparable to other ]]>
et al. (1983) determined a rate of 7.2mm month-1 (~0.236mm day-1) in Belize, while in Venezuela an increase of 15mm month-1
(~0.492mm day-1) was measured (Weil & Laughlin 1984) and in Punta Gavilán, juveniles grew an average of 10mm month-1 (~0,327mm day-1) (De JesúsNavarrete & Oliva-Rivera 1997). The growth rate ]]>
Cueva was comparable to the growth measured by Moreno de la Torre & Aldana-Aranda (2007) under experimental conditions, using artificial diets, who obtained an increase of 0.16-0.23mm day-1. However, the conch used in their study had an initial size inferior to 40mm and were smaller than the organisms in the present study.
Growth rates declined in the 150-199mm size class and tended towards null in conch ≥200mm (Fig. 3). Conches grow in shell length only until maturation. At this time the flared shell-lip is formed. Subsequent shell growth occurs as a progressive thickening of the shelllip (Appeldoorn 1988). Most conch reach sexual maturation when the shell ]]>
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Growth rate of the queen conch showed large individual variations, especially in animals of the class of 100-149mm. Alcolado (1976) showed that growth may vary according to environmental variability between sites; however, the study area of the Cueva is a relatively small area, making it more likely that all organisms have been exposed to the same conditions. Ray & Stoner (1994) suggested that juvenile conch are vulnerable to predation and ]]>
We could detect significant ]]>
Fig. 4). There was an increase in nutrients important for production of biomass (P, N and NO) in the sample of March 2010, for which it is likely that the increase in growth rate during May 2010 might be the result of higher primary productivity.
We conclude that the direct method is useful for the assessment of growth in juvenile
S. gigas and that growth in natural conditions is higher than in enclosures and aquaculture systems. This information may be applied to fishery management as well as to rehabilitation programs and aquaculture.
Acknowledgments
We gratefully ]]>
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*Correspondencia: Joanne Rebecca Peel: Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Km 6 Antigua Carretera a Progreso, Mérida, Yucatán, México; jrpeel@gmx.de Dalila Aldana Aranda: Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Km 6 Antigua Carretera a Progreso, Mérida, Yucatán, México. ]]>
1. Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Km 6 Antigua Carretera a Progreso, Mérida, Yucatán, México; jrpeel@gmx.de
Received 14-VI-2011. Corrected 02-XII-2011. Accepted 20-XII-2011