Gilad Heinisch, Hanna Rosenfeld, Jessica M Knapp, Hillel Gordin, Molly E Lutcavage
Author Information
Gilad Heinisch: 1] Large Pelagics Research Center, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Gloucester, Massachusetts 01930, USA [2] University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire 03824, USA.
Hanna Rosenfeld: Israeli Oceanographic and Limnological Research, National Center for Mariculture, Eilat, 88112, Israel.
Jessica M Knapp: 1] Large Pelagics Research Center, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Gloucester, Massachusetts 01930, USA [2] University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire 03824, USA.
Hillel Gordin: Israeli Oceanographic and Limnological Research, National Center for Mariculture, Eilat, 88112, Israel.
Molly E Lutcavage: Large Pelagics Research Center, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Gloucester, Massachusetts 01930, USA.
We introduce a novel endocrine approach for assessing the unresolved matter of the timing of sexual maturation in western Atlantic bluefin tuna (ABFT), a highly migratory population whose status remains uncertain. Ratios of follicle stimulating hormone to luteinizing hormone, a sexual maturity indicator, in all ABFT ≥ 134 cm curved fork length (CFL) were <0.4, similar to Mediterranean spawners, indicating that western ABFT mature at considerably smaller sizes and at a much younger age than currently assumed (≥ 185 cm CFL).
