Maturity and spawning of the marine catfish, Tachysurus dussumieri (Valenciennes) along the South Kanara Coast

Abstract

Results of a study on the maturity and spawning of the marine cat -fish . Tachysurus dussumieri obtained from gill net catches at MaJpe. Gangolli and from trawl catches at Mangalore during the period September 1975 to May 1976 are presented. The species was found to spawn once a year from December to March with peak spawning in February. Females attain maturity at about 545 mm total length. The fecundity of the species was found to vary from 105 to 18.4 eggs, the average being 141 eggs per female. While a linear relationship was noticed between fecundity and the length of the fish, no relationship was observed between the fecundity and the weight of the fish. In fish above 300 mm, females dominated over males from October to February whereas, males dominated over females from March to May.