Reproductive biology of Mugil curema and Mugil cephalus from western Gulf of Mexico waters

The present study examined variation in sex ratio (SR), fecundity, gonadosomatic index (GSI), condition index (K), and weight-length relationship in white mullet, Mugil curema (Valenciennes, 1836), and striped mullet, Mugil cephalus (Linnaeus, 1758) collected from eight locations in western Gulf of Mexico waters. Fish were sampled from commercial mullet fishers during two consecutive fishing seasons (November-March), beginning in 2008. Significant male- and female-dominance was detected for both species depending on location, with greater female dominance for white mullet and male dominance for striped mullet. In general, geographic differences in relative fecundity, GSI, and K in the present study were minor. However, several of these values were lower than values previously reported for the same study region from the early 1990s. We suggest that the differences may be related to increases in commercial fishing intensity.