Temporal changes in feeding and bio-indices of Polynemus paradiseus Linnaeus, 1758 occurring in Hooghly-Matlah estuary, West Bengal

118-123Temporal changes in feeding and bio-indices of Polynemus paradiseus were studied at selected stretches of Hooghly-Matlah estuary for a period of eight months (December to July). It indicated that the fish mainly feeds on shrimps, fishes, and insects. The highest amount of shrimps (45.49%) was recorded in December and those of fishes (16.10%) during June and copepods and insects (7.31%) in July. The presence of a considerable amount of small fishes, insects and crustaceans in gut contents indicated carnivore-feeding habits of fish. Adult size of the species mainly feeds on shrimps and fishes whereas juveniles feed on shrimps, copepods, insects, and zoobenthos. Gastro-somatic index (GaSI) was maximum during March and April and minimum during June and December in fish. The monthly mean gonado-somatic index (GSI) values varied from 0.74 (December) to 1.32 (June) in males and 0.82 (December) to 5.44 (June) for female fish, respectively

Socio-economic status of fisherwomen community in coastal Vizianagaram district of Andhra Pradesh, India

The socio-economics of six fisherwomen co-operative societies in coastal Vizianagaram district of Andhra Pradesh were studied through field surveys by interviewing a total of 185 respondents. Respondents were mostly middle aged (31 – 56 years; 61.6%) living in nuclear families (64.9%). Majority of the fisherwomen were found illiterate (88.1%). A greater proportion (84.9%) of fisherwomen involved in fish marketing as a primary occupation followed by salting and curing (9.73%) and pickling of fishes (5.4%). More than half (56.2%) of the respondents earned > Rs. 25,000 (USD$ 1 = Rs. 75) every month. The study revealed that the socio-economic condition of the fisherwomen in the study area is poor, with a high percentage of the illiteracy. Necessary steps should be taken by the Governments organizations, NGOs and respective stakeholders to improve the literacy level as well as livelihood status

Temporal changes in feeding and bio-indices of Polynemus paradiseus Linnaeus, 1758 occurring in Hooghly-Matlah estuary, West Bengal

Temporal changes in feeding and bio-indices of Polynemus paradiseus were studied at selected stretches of Hooghly-Matlah estuary for a period of eight months (December to July). It indicated that the fish mainly feeds on shrimps, fishes, and insects. The highest amount of shrimps (45.49%) was recorded in December and those of fishes (16.10%) during June and copepods and insects (7.31%) in July. The presence of a considerable amount of small fishes, insects and crustaceans in gut contents indicated carnivore-feeding habits of fish. Adult size of the species mainly feeds on shrimps and fishes whereas juveniles feed on shrimps, copepods, insects, and zoobenthos. Gastro-somatic index (GaSI) was maximum during March and April and minimum during June and December in fish. The monthly mean gonado-somatic index (GSI) values varied from 0.74 (December) to 1.32 (June) in males and 0.82 (December) to 5.44 (June) for female fish, respectively

Dynamics of bioindices in mud crab Scylla serrata (Forsskål, 1775) occurring in Hooghly-Matlah Estuary of West Bengal, India

Dynamics of some bio indices (carapace width [CW] and body weight [W] relationship, relative condition factor [Kn]) of mud crab Scylla serrata (Forsskål, 1775), collected from the Hooghly-Matlah Estuary of West Bengal, were studied for a period of one year. A total of 325 specimens were collected (CW 44 – 120 mm, W 20 – 210 g) and studied. The CW and W relationship was found as W = 0.0006 CW2.665 for male and W = 0.001 CW2.561 for female. The b value was found relatively higher in male indicating better growth rate compared to females. Moreover, the growth pattern was allometric. The monthly mean Kn was 0.968 to 1.058 for males and 0.962 to 1.054 for females that significant varied (P < 0.05) among sampling months

Length-weight relationship and condition factor of Tade gray mullet, Chelon planiceps (Valenciennes, 1836) from Hooghly-Matlah Estuary, West Bengal, India

Tade gray mullet (Chelon planiceps) forms a lucrative fishery in the Hooghly-Matlah estuarine system. During eight months of investigation 232 specimens were examined to study length-weight relationship and relative condition factor (Kn). The length and weight of fish was varied from 41 to 283 mm and 0.81 to 208 g respectively. Two length-weight relationship equations were obtained from the analysis, W=0.0000397L2.952 for <187 mm size group and W=0.0000406L2.834 for >187 mm size group. The size at first maturity was recorded as 187 mm. The b value was not significantly different from 3 indicating isometric growth. The monthly mean Kn for the male and female were 1.041–1.125 and 1.009–1.236 respectively. The highest Kn value was recorded in July for both the sexes, which may be due to advance maturity stages. The present study will be useful in the context of biological management of mullet fishery as well as to find out aqua-farming potential of Tade gray mullet

Length-weight relationship, condition factor and gonado-somatic index of Labeo calbasu (Hamilton, 1822)

An attempt was made to study dynamics of length-weight relationship (LWR), relative condition factor (Kn) and gonado-somatic index (GSI) of Labeo calbasu from the wetlands of South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, India. A total of 275 fish specimens (130 to 430 mm) were examined over nine months from December 2006 to August 2007. Specimens were categorized into two groups based on the size at first maturity of 260 mm.  The LWR was recorded W = 0.007269 L3.181 for Group A (<260 mm) and W = 0.007367 L3.031 for Group B (≥260 mm). The individuals exhibited isometric growth. The monthly mean Kn values varied from 0.924 to 1.141 with an average value of 1.059. The mean monthly values of GSI varied from 0.544 to 3.301 for male and 0.560 to 9.649 for female. There was significant variation (P < 0.05) in the mean values of GSI in different months between sexes

Season-wise length-weight relationship and relative condition factor of Tenualosa ilisha (Hamilton, 1822) at Narmada estuary, Gujarat, India

635-638Length-weight relationship and relative condition factor of T. ilisha was conducted for one year (2014-15) at Narmada estuary, Gujarat, India. Fish samples were collected from Bharuch, Bhadbhut, Mehgam and Ambetha landing sites covering 72 km of estuarine stretch. Two distinct fishing seasons were observed at Narmada estuary, viz., June-October and January-March, though the bulk of the harvest comes from monsoon season. A total of 312 fish samples were collected, 270 during monsoon and 42 during the winter season. The mean length and weight were recorded 35.37±11.36 cm and 625.83±39.81 g during monsoon and 36.84±3.82 cm and 537.44 ± 17.45 g during the winter season. The ‘b’ value was found to be 3.07 and 2.76 and relative condition factor was 1.02 and 1.01 during monsoon and winter seasons, respectively

Impacts of water regulation on Tenualosa ilisha in the Narmada Estuary, Gujarat, India

Hilsa is a highly prestigious fish for esteemed delicious taste, high market demand and price. It forms an important fishery of funnel-shaped 72 km long Narmada Estuary. Rapid decline in hilsa catch has been recorded in the Narmada Estuary over last few decades. Hilsa catch was recorded 5180 ton in 2006–07 that reduced to only 419 ton in 2014–15. Pre-impoundment of dam showed that T. ilisha contributed to the tune of 977.1 to 3727 ton from 1974–75 to 1982–83 and the highest catch of hilsa was 15319 ton during 1993–94. Sardar Sarovar Dam started functional in the year 1994 which has impacted natural water flow of the river and resulted in a reduction of freshwater availability in the estuary; the development of sand bars at the mouth of the estuary also reduced the tidal ingress into the system; low depth, loss of breeding, nursery and feeding grounds, over fishing may be the most important factors affecting hilsa fishery in Narmada estuary. Catching of juvenile hilsa during winter by ‘Golava’ net (small meshed bag net) also led to a rapid decline in hilsa catch

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Not AvailableOsteobrama cotio (Hamilton, 1822) is known ‘Cotio’ a tropical, benthopelagic, freshwater species under the family Cyprinidae. It is distributed in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Nepal in Asia, and its presence in Mayanmar is questionable. As per IUCN Red List Status, it is categorized as Least Concern (LC), but the species categorized as Endangered (EN) in Bangladesh. In India, O. cotio is distributed in Assam (Brahmaputra drainage), Bihar, Manipur (Barak-Brahmaputra drainage), Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and can grow to a maximum length of 15.0 cm. In the juvenile stages it is mainly fed on phytoplankton, and in growing and adult stages on zooplankton, insects, and detritus. The species is monsoon spawners and breeds during the month of May-July. Being a small indigenous fish, it provides nutritional supplements to a large section of economically backward populations. In this prelude, the present review is aimed to provide detailed information on O. cotio that might be useful to know the species, its potential importance, and suitable conservation measures that may be carried out accordingly.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableClupisoma garua (Hamilton, 1822) commonly known as ‘garua bachcha’ under the order Siluriformes and family Schilbeidae, a potamodromous species, demersal habitat and found both fresh as well as brackish water. The species is mainly distributed in Asian countries like Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Nepal and found mainly large freshwater bodies. The species are categorized as Least Concern (LC) by IUCN but kept as Vulnerable (Vu) category by the CAMP and CAFF reports. It is anomini-carnivore species and feeds on insects, molluscs, crustaceans and small fishes in wild conditions. The species have both food and ornamental values and the medium-size individual also treated as game fish in India. Through the species is said to be widely distributed but threatened in some localities like southern West Bengal, due to overfishing and anthropogenic activities. In the present review, we have tried to give detailed information of ‘garua bachcha’, which will be useful to know the species, its potential importance and suitable conservation measures may carry out accordingly.Not Availabl