Contribution a la biologie des Dasyatidae des cotes tunisiennes. 3. Dasyatis tortonesei Capape, 1975. Répartition géographique et bathymétrique, sexualité, reproduction, fécondité

Abstract

Dasyatis tortonesei is frequently caught along Tunisian coasts; it lives in sandy and sand-muddy bottoms above 100 m. First sexual maturity is reached by the males at 38 cm disc width and 68 cm total length and by the females at 46 cm and 83 cm respectively. D. tortonesei lays young two or three times per year. Pregnancy lasts four months on average. On average ovarian fecundity is 7.36 and uterine fecundity is 4.00. About 53 cm of disc width, there is a relation between size and fecundity.