The fecundity and sex composition of sardinella longiceps Val. along the Cochin coast

Abstract

A clear knowledge of the fecundity, sex composition and breeding of fishes is an essential prerequisite in any programme of fishery research and management policies. In Smdinella longiceps, which is economically very important, at- tempts to study these were hitherto made only in the Calicut area (Hornell, 1910;Hornell and Jayudu, 1923; Sundara Raj, 1934-40; Devenesan, 1943; Devanesan and Chidambaram, 1948; Chidambaram, 1950; Nair and Chidambaram, 1951 and Nair, 1952 and 1960) and our present knowledge on these aspects of its biology is rather meagre. These authors stated that the fish was highly fecund and the fecundity ranged from 70,000 to 100,000 eggs during the years of their observation. In view of those variations of fecundity values and sex composition of the fish, a detailed investigation pertaining to them was taken up at Cochin. Observations of Clark (1934), Hickling (1940), Lehman (1953), Davies (1956), Mac Gregor (1957), Pillay (1958), Kandler and Dutt (1958), Baxter (1959), Schus- ter (1960), Larraneta (1960). Ben Tuvia (1960), Kwan-Ming (1960). Ahlstrom (1960), Ronquillo (1960), Blackburn (1960), De Jager (1960), Pillay and Rosa (1963), Beverton (1963) and Anokhina (1963) on fecundity, sex, maturity and related aspects of various sardines and related clupeids are of special interest in this connection. However, the investigations on those aspects of other species of fishes by Hickling and Rutenberg (1936), Jones (1946), Bagenal (1957), Wise (1961) and Thomson (1962) are also worthy of mention here.