Physicochemical,Microbiological, and Sensory Properties of Pâté Elaborated from Whitemouth Croaker (Micropogonias furnieri) Muscle

The aim of this research was to formulate a unique product, croaker pâté, and to determine its physicochemical, microbiological, and sensorial characterization. Three formulations of pâté were elaborated. The pâtés fit in the stipulated regulations for the microbiological test. Regarding the texture, the pâtés presented a significant difference (p < 0.05) among each other. In the sensorial tests, the favorite pâté of the panel was formulation 3; in the acceptance test, it had higher levels of acceptance for color, flavor, and global acceptance in comparison with commercial pâté.     

Status of white croaker Micropogonias furnieri exploited in southern Brazil according to alternative hypotheses of stock discreetness

The exploitation status of white croaker Micropogonias furnieri in southern Brazil is assessed using a production model constructed according to three hypotheses of stock discreetness: an isolated stock in southern Brazil; a straddling stock shared between Brazil and Uruguay; and a straddling stock shared among Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina. Estimates of virgin stock size and maximum sustainable yield were more sensitive to the hypothesis assumed correct, the posterior means varying respectively from 177,648 to 1,007,256 tonnes and from 7459 to 38,677 tonnes. Estimates of stock status in relation to management reference points were more robust to the uncertainties in stock discreetness and indicate that the species in currently overfished (biomass at 60% of B_msy) and under heavy overfishing (F between approximately 2 and 6 times higher than F_msy). Results suggest that the relative stability of catches in the region occurs at the expense of a steady decline in stock abundance and that concerted management actions by the three countries are needed to bring the stock to safer levels of exploitation.     

A new species of philometrid parasite (Nematoda,Philometridae) and histopathological lesions in juvenile whitemouth croakers,Micropogonias furnieri (Desmarest)

A new species of nematode parasite, Philometroides tahieli sp. nov. is described. The juvenile whitemouth croaker, Micropogonias furnieri Desmarest, was collected during the spring and summer of the years 2008–2010 from estuarial environments of Argentina. During investigations of the parasite fauna a nematode encapsulated in the musculature of the operculum was found. The nematodes were removed from the host's muscle tissue and slide‐mounted in lactophenol solution to clarify the specimens. Opercular muscle with the parasite was processed for histopathological examination. Philometroides tahieli sp. nov. can be identified by the location of gravid females in the host, presence of anterior oesophageal bulb, bosses on the surface of the body, presence of transversal mounds and 14 cephalic papillae in two circular rows. The pathogenicity of the parasite is low in the natural environment, but lesions are consistent with a chronic process. The appearance of caseous necrosis suggests the presence of a locally acting substance. Philometroides tahieli sp. nov. is the second species of this genera described from brackish waters, and since the discovery of Philometroides maplestoni in 1928, is the first species of this genus recorded for South America.