The article describes about the suitability of Kovalam backwater region near Madras for utilizing as the collection ground for juveniles of tiger prawn that can be used for farming

Kathirvel, M

Selvaraj, V

CMFRI Digital Repository

NFORMATION SERVICE NURSERY GROUND FOR EARLY JUVENILES OF TIGER PRAWN IN KOVALAM BACKWATER NEAR MADRAS* The Kovalam backwater (Lat. ]2°46' N; Long. 80° 18' E) is usually flooded during the northeast mon-soon from October-December. Consequently, the sand bar at the mouth of the backwater is cut open to release the accumulated water into the sea and thus avoiding inundation of paddy fields lying adjacent to the back-water. The bar mouth remains open till April - May, during which time, recruitment of larvae and early juveniles of prawns, fishes and crabs takes place con-tinuously, supporting a lucrative fishery in the back-* Reported by M. Kathirvel and V. Selvaraj, Madras Research Centre of CMFRI, Madras. waters during the post and pre-monsoon months, especially for penaeid prawns. For the purpose of utilising the early juveniles of fast growing species of penaeid prawns for field culture, experimental drag net (10 m long; 12 mm mesh size) operations were carried out in the backwater during December 1984. This has brought to light the occurrence of early juveniles of tiger prawn P. monodon off" Vadanemmeli village. The total length of juvenile tiger prawn caught ranged between 28 and 91 mm. They were found to be more abundant over the sea grass bed. A maximum 10 of 717 juveniles per 100 m* were caught in the drag net operated in the backwaters near Vadanemmeli. The present observations have indicated the rich colonisation of early juveniles of P. monodon over the sea grass beds. This congregation could be attributed to the clinging habits of the species in its earlier part of the life. This habit of taking shelter among the grasses may help them to escape from predators. A perusal of literature on the habitat of the species has shown that P. monodon, also known as the grass shrimp, takes refuge among the weedy areas in estuaries during its postlarval and early juvenile stages. Taking advan-tages of the clinging habit of fry of tiger prawn, success-ful fry collections have been achieved by suspending bunches of twigs and grass from a horizontal rope in the estuaries and bays in Philippines. The abundantly found fry of P. monodon, associated with sea grass vegetation in Kovalam backwater can be exploited for meeting the great demand for tiger prawn seeds for farming. 

Nursery ground for early juveniles of tiger prawn in Kovalam backwater near Madras

http://eprints.cmfri.org.in/4661/1/Article_05.pdf

Nursery ground for early juveniles of tiger prawn in Kovalam backwater near Madras

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