A preliminary study on the biology and fishery of Muraenesox talabonoides (Bleeker) from Bombay and Saurashtra waters

Abstract

Muraenesox talabonoides, a false conger eel ('wam'), supports an important fishery along the north-western parts of India. It is a predator, taking in a variety of fishes, including eels, and prawns. Length frequency studies showed that recruitment of small juveniles of the species to the trawl fishery is twice a year. The size at first maturity is 125 cmt There appeared to be two spawning periods, one in April-May and the other in September-October. A specimen of 169 cm total length was estimated to have a fecundity of 922,033 ova. The fishery is mainly dependent on the trawling operation andastudy of the New India Fisheries Company's'vessel landings during 1956-63 showed that 'wam' formed over 10% of the trawl catches and that the southern part of Bombay —Saurashtra waters, comprising Cambay, Veraval and Bombay formed the more productive grounds. The eels were found to move to the deeper zone in the warmer months from April onwards, and move towards the shallower area by September and then move to moderately deep waters up to March.