Reproduction in the milk shark, Rhizoprionodon acutus (Rüppell, 1837) (Chondrichthyes: Carcharhinidae), from the coast of Senegal (eastern tropical Atlantic)

Abstract

          The milk shark, Rhizoprionodon acutus (Rüppel, 1837), is the shark species most abundantly landed at fishing sites along the Senegalese coast in the eastern tropical Atlantic. Adult males and females were mainly captured from March to September. The smallest adult male was 840 mm total length (TL) and weighed 2650 g; all males above 950 mm TL were adult. The smallest adult female was 890 mm TL and 4800 g; all females above 1000 mm were adult. The largest male and female were 1215 mm and 1260 mm TL and 6700 g and 6830 g, respectively. There was a significant difference in the total mass vs. TL relationship between males and females. Parturition and mating occurred in May and June. Gestation lasted approximately one year. Females had an annual reproductive cycle although some reproduced in alternate years. The diameter and mass of the largest yolked oocytes ranged 20-23 mm (mean 21.2±0.9) and 4.1-5.6 g (mean 4.8±0.5). Both uteri were compartmentalized into chambers with a single embryo in each chamber. Size and mass at birth, based on term embryos and neonates, ranged 325-500 mm TL (mean 391.4±24.4) and 127-350 g (mean 220.7±37.9). A chemical balance of development based on mean dry mass of the largest yolked oocytes and term embryos was 23. Ovarian fecundity was slightly higher than uterine fecundity. There was a slight positive relationship between uterine fecundity and female TL, but not between ovarian fecundity and female TL. Litter sizes ranged from one to eight (mean 3.5±1.3) with males and females equally distributed. In free-swimming specimens, females significantly outnumbered males, especially among sub-adult and adult specimens.