Stock assessment and reproductive biology of Puntius sarana (Hamilton, 1822) in Tamiraparani River basin of south Tamilnadu, India

Abstract

Length weight frequency data were collected on weekly intervals for studying the length frequency analysis, species composition, catch and effort and reproductive biological aspects of puntius sarana in Tamiraparani riverine system (8° 42’N and 77.15° 24’E) of Western Ghats of India. The estimated b and z value was found 2.246 and 1.16 respectively. As per Virtual Population Analysis the maximum fishing mortality occurs at 30.3 cm. Reasonable fishing mortality started from 22.8 cm. The maximum steady state biomass was observed in the size group of 21.3 cm. The catch per unit effort (CPUE) was found to be high during the month of January and February. The decayed organic matter, algae and sand grains were also recorded in this species. The number of ova was found to vary 34,218 to 43,296 in the size range of 170 mm - 260 mm for P. sarana. The length at 50% maturity was estimated was 200 mm in total length for females. We observed that the fecundity was relatively low which indicates that, this species should be exploited carefully. To avoid growth over fishing and conservation of this species, the minimum legal size (MLS) for capture can be fixed below 200 mm for female.