5 DECEMBER. MEXICO: AQUACULTURE

Baja California: "We are still registering up to 5ºC of difference in comparison with normal years. It seems this phenomenon is being favorable for summer-spawners species such as Pinctada mazatlanica of which we are still observing spatfall (it should have finished a while ago !!). On the contrary, we should expect the presence of good gonad maturity in Pteria sterna (this one is a winter-spawner at Bahia de La Paz), but there is not any mature specimen. Usually in late November and early December the presence of stages 3 or 4 in gonad development (this is almost ripe) is common on this species. We could predict a quite poor spatfall of Pteria sterna this winter, and I could even adventure to say that, if this weather stays longer, there could be no spatfall at all. Besides, a strict monitoring of water temperature and also of other indexes we have defined for previewing the spatfall of Pinctada mazatlanica, will have to be undertaken from February-March on next year. Probably the main recruitment of P. mazatlanica will be very much in advance next year."--Mario Monteforte <montefor@cibnor.mx> VIA Barry A. Costa-Pierce<bcp@uci.edu>.