Across Sectional Analysis Studies on Sea Bream (Rhabdosargus haffara) at Gulf of Suez, Red Sea, Egypt

This study was conducted in the Gulf of Suez from 2021 to 2022 on the Haffara seabream (Rhabdosargus haffara), which belongs to the family Sparidae. The relative fecundity of R. haffara ranged from 345.1 to 631.2 oocytes/g, with an average of 391.7 oocytes/g. A unimodal winter peak was observed in advanced gametogenesis (stages IV and V) for both male and female R. haffara. A significant difference was recorded in the monthly average gonado-somatic index (GSI), which ranged from 0.5 to 4.0% for males and 0.8 to 10.0% for females. The monthly hepatosomatic index (HSI) for males ranged from 0.86 to 1.95% (mean: 1.23 ± 0.07%), while for females it ranged from 0.56 to 1.22% (mean: 0.99 ± 0.04%). Histological analyses were performed to determine the maturity of R. haffara, using samples from 100 individuals (50 males and 50 females) collected in 2021 and 2022. The histological analysis confirmed the biological observations of fish maturity discussed in earlier sections of this study. The length at 50% maturity was found to be 14.50cm. A total of 120 individuals of R. haffara were analyzed from eight populations.