The document summarizes different aspects of fish reproduction, including both asexual and sexual reproduction. It discusses types of hermaphroditism, modes of sexual reproduction such as oviparity and viviparity, clutch sizes, courtship behaviors, sexual dimorphism, and various strategies for protecting eggs and young, such as mouth brooding, external brooding, gill brooding, and nest building. Sexual maturity varies widely between species, from shortly after birth to over 10 years of age depending on size, lifespan, and other factors.

1. Fish Reproduction

2. INTRODUCTION The reproduction is the most diverse and fascinating aspect of studying any group of animals, and specially the fish, with nearly 30,000 species.

3. TYPES OF REPRODUCTION 1.ASEXUAL (PARTHENOGESIS) 2. SEXUAL REPRODUCTION

4. 1.PARTHENOGENESIS The Amazon Molly (named after the women not the river) Poecilia formosa of Mexico and Texas is one of the world's few known species of parthenogenetic fish, another is the Texas Silverside Menidia clarkhubbsi.

5. 2.SEXUAL REPRODUCTION The standard pattern of reproducing is through the union of male and female gametes.

6. Sexual maturity-I Fishes can become sexually mature at various ages, depending on species. Several factors influence sexual maturity, including age , gender , and size. Spawn immediately after birth. Although female dwarf perch receive sperm soon after they're born . Some bony fishes become sexually mature shortly after birth . The western mosquito fish (Gambusia affinis) becomes sexually mature within a year.

7. Sexual maturity-II Most bony fishes become sexually mature between one and five years . Most bony fishes are in excess of 8 cm (3 in.) before reproducing. It may take ten years or more for some bony fishes to become sexually mature. The eels (family Anguillidae) become sexually mature at 10 to 14 years of age, and the sturgeons (family Acipenseridae) may take up to 15 years to mature. . In general, species of a small maximum size begin reproducing at an earlier age than those with a large maximum size . Age and associated size are major factors in determination of adulthood.

8. DIVERSITY IN SEXES The vast majority of fish are 'Dioecious' (a species that possesses both males and females in separate bodies 'Hermaphrodism', the alternative to dioecism eg; in Myxins.

9. TYPES OF HERMAPHRODITE Hermaphroditic species can be either simultaneously hermaphroditic or sequentially hermaphroditic In simultaneously hermaphroditic species each individual is both male and female at the same time, although the ripening of the gonads may be sequential to prevent unnecessary self fertilization The gender change follows environmental cues that normally reflect the reproductive state of other nearby individuals of the same species.

10. Kinds of Sequential hermaphrodite Species that are born male Protandrous Species that are born female and change to male are called Protogynous

11. Modes of Sexual Reproduction There are three primary ways that fish reproduce Ovopartity - - Lay undeveloped eggs, External fertilization (90% of bony fish), Internal fertilization (some sharks and rays) Ovoviviparity - Internal development- without direct maternal nourishment-Advanced at birth (most sharks + rays)-Larval birth (some scorpeaniforms-rockfish) Viviparity- Internal development- direct nourishment from mother-Fully advanced at birth (some sharks, surf perches)

12. SOME MORE DETAILES Three more important terms in the science of fish reproductive biology are Oviparous, Ovoviviparous and Viviparous. A species is Oviparous if the eggs are fertilized internally and then laid by the female , they are Ovoviviparous if the eggs are fertilized internally and then carried in the females body until they hatch, then they are born alive, not laid as an egg. Still all the nutrients the young embyro needs are in the egg before it is fertilized. Finally a fish species is Viviparous if the eggs are fertilized internally, and the embryos kept within the females body until they are born alive, but these embryos receive nutrients directly from the mother while they are developing, in addition to those in the egg at the time of fertilization. Internal fertilization is possible for fish via modification of the anal fin of the male into a copulatory organ. Viviparity is rare in fish (but common amongst mammals), a very successful example is the common Mosquito fish, Gambusia affinis, which produces about 30 young with a gestation period of 24 days.

13. CLUTCH SIZE IN VIVIPAROUS The Black-spotted Shark (Carcharhinus sealei) 1-2 young Bristly Catshark (Halaelurus hispidus) 2 young Brown Catshark (Apristurus brunneus) 2 young Caribbean Sharpnose Shark (Rhizoprionodon porosus) 2-6 young

14. CLUTCH SIZE- II Guppies (Poecilia reticulata) give birth to up to 40 young. Green Swordtail (Xiphophorus helleri), one of the most prolific of live bearers can produce as many as 200 young.

15. COURTSHIP SYNCHRONISM For most fish then reproduction means males and females getting together so that their gametes can also get together. The simplest way of doing this is for a male and a female to be living in the same place at the same time, sperm and eggs are then simply released into the water synchronistically (at the same time). The sperm then have to swim around until they find an egg. The more eggs there are, the more chance of success they have, and so it is better if there are lots of males and lots of females all in the same place at the same time releasing their gametes together. This is the usual case for species that spend their lives in large groups (schools), but even these species may aggregate in a certain place in the breeding season. In species that aggregate for spawning purposes there is no real courtship, and males and females obviously have no problem finding each other

16. SEXUL DIMORPHISM In most species of fish the females are larger than the males, this sexual dimorphism is not normally more than a difference of about 10% to 15% percent by length, but it can be more than this and it reaches its extreme in those Anglerfish, such as Photocorynus spiniceps where the adult male lives as a parasite on the female, permanently attached to her and receiving his nutrients from her.

17. PROTECTION OF YOUNG ONES Fish have evolved a diverse selection of strategies to protect their eggs after fertilization. Apart from live bearing, these strategies include a variety of methods of external incubation (not inside the females body cavity) as well as many different ways of hiding or protecting the eggs from casual predators such as building a nest or using the topography of the land under, or even above, the water.

18. PROTECTION OF YOUNG ONES One of the most common and most well know methods is mouth brooding such as that carried out by Cardinal Fish and many Cichlids . In these cases one member of a pair collects the eggs in his of her mouth after fertilization and keeps them safe there until they hatch. This can often mean the adult not eating for several days, or even weeks.

19. PROTECTION OF YOUNG ONES A second well known method is external brooding in a pouch, or with the eggs stuck to the males body. This method has the benefit of not requiring the brooding adult to fast. Sea Horses and Pipefish are the most famous examples of this method

20. PROTECTION OF YOUNG ONES A third fascinating method of external brooding used by a few species is gill brooding. Here, as the name suggests, the eggs are brooded in the gill cavity of the adult

21. PROTECTION OF YOUNG ONES Other ways in which try to protect their eggs include building a nest, Sticklebacks ; burying them in sand , Trout Oncorhynchus mykiss and Salmon Salmo salar; sticking them to rocks , Cornish Suckerfish Lepadogaster lepadogaster; tangling them in plants , Armed Bulheads ; laying them inside empty shells Gunnels and some Gobies, Gobiidae; or even laying them inside the a living bivalve such as is the practice of the Bitterling with Swan Mussels

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