On a whale shark caught at Vizhinjam, Kerala

On 20th June 2005, a female whale shark Rhincodon typus entangled in a ozhukuvala net at about 1000 hrs from 45 meter depth was dragged to the Vizhinjam landing centre

Unusual landing of blue shark

The fishermen of Thoothoor and Thengapattanam are experts in hook and line operations for sharks and conduct multiday distant water shark fishing off Maharashtra and Gujarat coasts at 150-180 km from shore. Large-sized elasmobranchs caught here are landed in southern India, where the meat is saltdried and sold for domestic consumption. Blue sharks are not regular contributors to the shark fishery in India and are rarely seen in such large numbers as in the present observation

Report on the rare quagga cat shark landed

Quagga catshark, Halaelurus quagga (Alcock, 1899) one of the rarest sharks in the family Scyliorhinidae (Order Carcharhiniformes) was observed at Muttom landing centre, Tamil Nadu on June 5 2017. It was landed as a bycatch in the demersal-trawl operated off Muttom at 150-200 m depths. The male specimen collected measured 298 mm in total length (TL) and its morphometrics were recorde

Unusual fish landings during monsoon season of 2018 along the Trivandrum and Kanyakumari coast

Bumper catch of Odonus niger (Redtoothed triggerfish) at Thengapattanam Fisheries Harbour and Moonfish Mene maculata along Vizhinjam coast was one of the major observations during the monsoon 2018. An estimated 50 t of O. niger was landed at the Thengapattanam Fisheries Harbour. Fishing vessels of 32 feet overall length (OAL) with two outboard engines (9.9hp each) operating boat seines were used for fishing

Fishery, biology and population dynamics of Nemipterus japonicus (Bloch) off Visakhapatnam

Threadfin breams formed 9% of the total small trawler catches of Visakhapatnam, Nemipterus mesoprion and N. japonicus being the dominant species. The estimated growth parameters for N. japonicus are L = 340 mm and K = 0.52 year-1. Size at first maturity is estimated as 128 mm. The species spawns during July to April with a peak in September. The mortality rate Z, F and M were 3.52, 2.41 and 1.11 respectively

Sciaenid fishery off Visakhapatnam with some aspects of population dynamics of Johnius carutta (Bloch)

The average annual catch of sciaenids by small-mechanized units operated off Visakhapatnam was 465 t, which formed 5.76% of the total landings. Of the thirteen species of sciaenids landed, Johnius carutta and Nibea maculata dominated the fishery. The estimated asymptotic length (L∝) and growth constant (K-year) of J. carutta were 295 mm and 0.40, respectively. The size at first maturity was 154 mm and the spawning season was during March - May. The mortality rates Z, F and M were 3.02, 2.05 and 0.97 respectively. The exploitation rate of 0.68 indicated heavy exploitation of the species. The yield/ recruit curves showed that the exploitation rate could be brought down to E max (0.57) without affecting the catch

Polymicrobial skin lesions in the red spot emperor, Lethrinus lentjan (Lacepede 1802) during mass incursion towards shore along Kanyakumari coast, south India

Mass incursion of fishes with polymicrobial skin lesions, fin erosions and scale loss was recorded in the red spot emperor Lethrinus lentjan (Lacepede 1802) along the Kanyakumari coast, south India during August 2009. An estimated 2.5 t of fish, mostly the red spot emperors were found to migrate in live condition to the shore areas in a stressful state. Microbiological analyses of tissue from sampled fishes revealed three distinct types of bacterial colonies forming 5.2 x 105 CFU g-1 of the infected tissues. The predominant bacterial colonies were characterized as Aeromonas sp. (70.0%) followed by Flavobacterium sp. (20%) and Vibrio sp. (10%). The Aeromonas isolate was highly susceptible to norfloxacin while the Flavobacterium and Vibrio isolates were susceptible to chloramphenicol. The Aeromonas and Vibrio isolates exhibited protease and amylase enzyme activities in vitro, suggesting their possible role in the progression of skin lesions and scale loss. The possibilities of ambient unknown stressors weakening the fish and subsequent infections by these bacterial isolates are discussed

Community structure and spatial patterns in hard coral diversity of Agatti Island, Lakshadweep, India

Lakshadweep Island cluster is the single atoll reef formation in India, which is reported to be facing climate abnormalities since the past few decades. Scleractinian corals form the structural framework of any coral reefs and are very important in the existence of atoll reef systems. In the present study an attempt was made to investigate the hard coral diversity, live/dead coral cover, as well as health status of reef system surrounding Agatti Island in the Lakshadweep Sea, adopting the Line Intercept Transect (LIT) method. Seventy one species were recorded from the island, of which 37 were new to the reef. Acropora formosa (Dana, 1846) with a total cover of 18.3% showed maximum abundance followed by Porites lutea (14.8%) and Porites lichen (10.7%). Percentage live coral cover was recorded as fair (48.6%) and coral mortality index (0.29) indicated that the reef is in the borderline between healthy and sick state. Proper management measures should be adopted to increase the coral cover of the reef area and to prevent further destruction of the reef

Lizardfish fishery, biology and population dynamics of Saurida undosquamis (Richardson) off Visakhapatnam

The average annual estimated catch of lizardfishes off Visakhapatnam is 229 t, which formed 5.3% of the total landings during the period 1990-2001. Five species of lizardfishes are landed of which, Saurida undosquamis and S. tumbil are the dominant and contributed 88% to the total lizardfish landings of small trawlers. The fishery, biology and some aspects of population dynamics of S. undosquamis are studied. The estimated asymptotic length (L ) and growth constant (K) in S. undosquamis are 395 mm and 0.31 year –1 respectively. The fish attained maturity at 230 mm, with spawning period extending from October to March. The estimated mortality rates Z, F, and M in the species are 1.81, 1.05 and 0.76 respectively. The exploitation rate (E) of S.undosquamis is 0.58

Rare occurrence of the Torpedo shrimp

Torpedo shrimps Kishinouyepenaeopsis maxillipedo (synonym of Parapenaeopsis maxillipedo) occur along the Indo-West Pacific, Sri Lanka, Malaya and Australia. In India, K. maxillipedo has been reported from Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Andaman Islands and recently from Kerala. On 8th July 2019 seven specimens of Torpedo shrimps were found in the gill net catch at Vizhinjam, Thiruvananthapuram district, on the south west coast of Keral