Dataset of Assessing the reproductive biology of hogfish (Lachnolaimus maximus) in the southern Gulf of Mexico

Hogfish (Lachnolaimus maximus) is the largest and most commercially important wrasse (Labridae) in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea. This threatened species is particularly vulnerable to overfishing due to its protogynous hermaphroditism, ontogenetic migratory behavior, and harem-like social structure. Despite its ecological and economic significance, its biology remains poorly understood, with limited information on its reproduction in populations from the eastern Gulf of Mexico, Cuba, and Puerto Rico, and lacking for the southern Gulf of Mexico. In Yucatan, the hogfish accounted for 23 to 36% of all marine species captured by the artisanal fleet during 2013 to 2015, and its annual catch increased from 115 to 723 metric tons between 2006 and 2015. Despite its growing commercial importance, the species is not included in the Official Mexican Standard (NOM-065-SAG/PESC-2014), which establishes the regulations for the harvesting of finfish. The absence of a regulatory framework, in conjunction with the lack of data on hogfish reproductive biology prevents the management of their fisheries, leaving the species at risk. Given this lack of information, the present study focused on generating original data on multiple aspects of reproductive biology of hogfish population from the north coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, determining six reproductive traits: 1) population structure by size and sex, along with sex ratio; 2) the relationship between dichromatism and sexual function; 3) spawning season and spawning sites; 4) sizes at maturity and sexual transition; 5) ovarian organization, spawning mode, and gonadal inversion dynamics; and 6) fecundity type, spawning frequency, and annual potential fecundity.