Fishery and biology of Priacanthus hamrur (Forsskal) along the Indian coast

Abstract

Fishery trend of bull's eye (Family:Priacanthidae) along the Indian coast and some biological aspects of Priacanthus hamrur (Forsskal) off Cochin are presented in this paper. Coastwise, the resource is landed more in the west coast from a depth range of 20-150m than the east coast, from a depth range of 10- 80m. Seasonally, priacanthids were abundant during October-March along the north west coast and during December - March and August-October along the south west coast. P. hamrur prefers pelagic crustaceans followed by fishes and smaller molluscs as food.lt appears to breed mainly during April-July, shedding two batches of ova. Gonado -somatic indices showed peak values during June in both sexes. Size at maturity of males and females were 181- 190mm and 191- 200mm respectively. Chi -square test indicated females to dominate the population. Fecundity ranged between 1,55,800 and 7,22,313. The V value in the length -weight relationship of the two sexes was statistically significant at 5% level.