LIFE HISTORY VARIATION AND ARTISANAL FISHERY ASSESSMENT OF THE GIANT CICHLID (Petenia splendida Gunther 1862) IN GUATEMALAN LAKES By CHRISTIAN ALBERTO BARRIENTOS CONTRERAS A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2015 © 2015 Christian Alberto Barrientos Contreras To my parents for their strong belief in me and to my wife and daughters who go together with me in my life journey ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I thank my advisor Jeff Hill for his understanding, encouragement, and perseverance with me in my journey to develop my scientific skills and the research needs of Guatemala. I appreciate his time and effort in the peaks and troughs of my writing. I am extremely grateful to all the members of my dissertation committee: Dr. Debra Murie, Dr. Mike Allen, Dr. Mark Brenner, and Dr. Collete St. Mary, for their generous contributions in the form of advice, expertise, and good-natured support to better my work. My deep appreciation goes to my Guatemala colleagues, especially Yasmin Quintana and Diego Elias, because enthusiasm and dedication to the work as well as the humorous stories made the data collection such an enjoyable experience. Several other people participated in my data collection including Diego Juarez, Byron Cruz, Obet Gonzalez, Don Julio Chan, and Gustavo Orellana. I received help with permits and logistics from Francisco Castaneda Moya, Mercedes Barrios, Julio Madrid, Emilio Mattus, Luis Guerra, Erick Villagran, Julio Morales, and David, Kelsey and Rosita Kuhn. My parents provided lodging and transportation in Guatemala City, which was greatly needed and I cannot ever thank them enough. My brother and sister also contributed their time and ran errands on several occasions, and their efforts are also recognized. I also thank the funding sources without which my Ph.D. program would not have been possible. My stay in the US was supported by the University of Florida through an Alumni Award Scholarship from the Program of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences and from a Teaching Assistantship from the Biology Department. Funding for my field research was from the National Council of Science and Technology in Guatemala and from the Lake Petén Itzá National Management Authority. The National Council of Protected Areas facilitated personnel and equipment inside Yaxhá National Park, and the University of San Carlos, through the Conservationist Studies Center, provided personnel and facilities in Petén. La Casa de Don 4 David provided a base for operations in El Remate, Petén and the National Conservation and Environment Organization provided facilities in Guatemala City. I am grateful to all of them for their trust and support of this project. I also thank Dr. Jose Miguel Ponciano for several discussions about fish, numbers, Guatemala, swimming and life. Finally, I owe thanks to the many people who helped in many ways, but who I am not able to list here. To them, I promise I will “pay it forward.” 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...............................................................................................................4 LIST OF TABLES ...........................................................................................................................8 LIST OF FIGURES .........................................................................................................................9 ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................................11 CHAPTER 1 THE GIANT CICHLID, LIFE HISTORY AND ARTISANAL FISHERY .............................13 2 SEASONAL CHANGES IN THE FISH COMMUNITY THAT INHABITS THE LITTORAL SUBMERSED AQUATIC VEGETATION OF LAKE PETEN ITZÁ, GUATEMALA .......................................................................................................................16 Introduction .............................................................................................................................16 Methods ..................................................................................................................................19 Habitat Characterization and Plant Sampling ..................................................................19 Fish Sampling ..................................................................................................................20 Analysis ...........................................................................................................................22 Results.....................................................................................................................................22 Habitat Characterization ..................................................................................................22 Fish Communities ............................................................................................................23 Temporal Analysis ...........................................................................................................23 Discussion ...............................................................................................................................24 3 REPRODUCTIVE LIFE HISTORY TRAITS OF THE GIANT CICHLID (Petenia splendida Gunther 1862) IN GUATEMALAN LAKES ........................................................35 Introduction .............................................................................................................................35 Study Site .........................................................................................................................37 Environmental Factors .....................................................................................................38 Methods ..................................................................................................................................39 Fish Sampling ..................................................................................................................39 Reproduction ...................................................................................................................39 Batch Fecundity ...............................................................................................................40 Maturity ...........................................................................................................................40 Results.....................................................................................................................................42 Spawning Season .............................................................................................................42 Fecundity .........................................................................................................................43 Maturity ...........................................................................................................................43 Discussion ...............................................................................................................................43 Sex Ratio and Size Distribution ......................................................................................44 6 Spawning Season .............................................................................................................45 Fecundity .........................................................................................................................46 Maturity Schedule ...........................................................................................................47 4 AGE, GROWTH AND MORTALITY RATES OF THE GIANT CICHLID (Petenia splendida Gunther 1862) IN GUATEMALA .........................................................................58 Introduction .............................................................................................................................58 Methods ..................................................................................................................................61 Fish Sampling ..................................................................................................................61 Length Frequency ............................................................................................................62 Otolith Processing ...........................................................................................................62 Age Estimates and Validation .........................................................................................63 Growth .............................................................................................................................64 Estimates of Total Mortality ............................................................................................65 Results.....................................................................................................................................66 Length Frequency ............................................................................................................66 Length-Weight Relationships ..........................................................................................66 Age Estimates ..................................................................................................................67 Growth .............................................................................................................................68