First record of the southern sailfin catfish, Pterygoplichthys anisitsi Eigenmann & Kennedy, 1903 (Teleostei: Loricariidae), in India

Abstract

The length-weight relationships (LWRs) were studied of 588 fish covering eight families, 13 genera and 14 species (Notopterus notopterus, Gudusia chapra, Labeo calbasu, Puntius sarana, Cirrhinus mrigala, Ompok bimaculatus, Mystus tengara, Mystus cavasius, Sperata aor, Sperata seenghala, Eutropiichthys vacha, Wallago attu, Rhinomugil corsula, and Mastacembelus armatus) captured in the Betwa River (tributary of the Yamuna River) and Gomti River (tributary of the Ganga River) from December 2007 to January 2009. The b values varied between 2.4 (M. armatus) and 3.52 (P. sarana), with the mean b = 2.96 at P < 0.001 for all species. The observations are significant for conservation and management because the Betwa River has been approved under India’s first interlinking plan with the Ken River, and no length-weight data had thus far been reported for the Gomti River. The objective was to evaluate the LWRs of these two unstudied rivers for fisheries management.