Comparing Macroscopic and Quantitative Histological Methods to Determine Sexual Maturity in the Female European Plaice, <i>Pleuronectes platessa</i> Linnaeus, 1758.

ABSTRACT: Two methods (macroscopic and quantitative histology) to determine sexual maturity are described in this paper, with an emphasis on the methods used in stereology. Based on a point counting grid (Glagolev's method), ovarian cellular structures were quantified throughout the whole cross section of 151 Pleuronectes platessa individuals. The novelty of this paper is checking the cellular homogeneity in the anterior, median and posterior sections of both ovaries from 15 fish, accompanied by a reading protocol to limit subjectivity during stereology readings. Once the ovarian structures were quantified for 151 individuals, a model was set up following the standardized staging grid of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), classifying each sampled individual into

SUBMITTER: Sauger C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12896940 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature