Length-Weight Relationships of Fifty Fish Species from Indian Waters

• Published in: Thalassas : revista de ciencias del mar Vol. 36; no. 2; pp. 309 - 314
• Main Authors: Roul, Subal Kumar, Akhil, A. R., Retheesh, T. B., Rajesh, K. M., Ganga, U., Abdussamad, E. M., Rohit, Prathibha
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01.10.2020; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Auxis thazard; Coastal Sciences; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Fish; Fish & Wildlife Biology & Management; Fisheries; Fishery surveys; Fishing; Fishing nets; Freshwater & Marine Ecology; Gillnets; Length-weight relationships; Marine & Freshwater Sciences; Oceanography; Seines; Species; Trawlnets; Trawls; Upeneus; Weight; Isometric growth; Length-weight relationships; Indian waters; Allometric growth
• ISSN: 0212-5919; 2366-1674
• DOI: 10.1007/s41208-020-00223-x

Length - weight relationships (LWRs) were estimated for 50 fish species belonging to 14 families from Indian waters. During the fishery surveys, specimens were collected from various fishing gears such as ring seines, gill nets, trawls and long lines between 2015 and 2017. The number of specimens measured varied by species. All the values of the parameter b were found within the expected range of 2.5 – 3.5. The b values in the relationships, W = aL b varied between 2.562 ( Stolephorus insularis ) and 3.461 ( Auxis thazard ) with mean value of 3.032 (SE = ± 0.029). The LWRs of all the 50 fish species estimated in this study were highly significant ( p  < 0.001, r 2  ≥ 0.850). The study provides the first estimate of LWRs for Scomber indicus , Sphyraena arabiansis and Upeneus margarethae , and complements the existing LWRs in the international literature and FishBase database. In addition, this study reports the new maximum size for Nematalosa nasus (28.5 cm TL, 281 g TW), Scomberoides commersonnianus (122 cm TL, 11400.5 g TW), Scomberoides tol (56 cm TL, 1000 g TW), Alepes djedaba (33.5 cm TL, 343.8 g TW) and Upeneus margarethae (19 cm TL, 87 g TW). This study provides basic biological information in the form of a length-weight key for 50 commercially important fish species from Indian waters as a valuable tool to assist fishery managers.