Studies on length-weight and length-length relationships of a catfish Eutropiichthyes vacha Hamilton (Schilbeidae: Siluriformes) from Indus river, Sindh, Pakistan

Present study describes the length-weight (LWR) and length-length (LLR) relationships of a freshwater catfish Eutropiichthyes vacha Hamilton from Indus River, Sindh, Pakistan. A total of 281 specimen of E. vacha were collected from fisherman?s catch from February 2005 to January 2006, are used for this study. The parameters a and b of the length-weight relationship were calculated as W= aLb are presented. The values for allometric coefficient b of the LWR were close to isometric value for male (b = 3.159) and combined values for both sexes (b = 3.053). However, it suggested negative allometric growth for females (b = 2.973). Results for LLRs indicated that these are highly correlated (r2 > 0.9) P< 0.0001.   REFERENCES Agarwal, N.K. (1996) Fish reproduction. APH Publishing Corporation, N. Delhi. pp. 157. Begenal, T. and Tesch, F.W. (1978) Age and Growth. Method for assessment of fish production in freshwater. (ed. Bagenal T.), IBP Hand book, Blackwell Scientific Press, Oxford. Hossain, M.Y., Ahmed, Z. F., Leunda, P. M., Jasmine, S., Oscoz, J. Miranda, R. and Ohtomi, J. (2006) Condition, length-weight and length-length relationship of the Asian striped catfish Mystus vittatus (Bloch, 1794) (Siluriformes: Bagridae) in the Mathbhanga River, southwestern Bangladesh. J. Appl. Ichthyol. 22, 304-307. Le Cren, E.D. (1951) The length-weight relationships and seasonal cycle in gonad weight and condition in the perch (Perca fluviatilis). J. Anim. Ecol. 20, 201-219. Martin-Smith, K.M. (1996) Legth-weight relationships of fishes in diverse tropical fresh-water community, Sabah, Malaysia. J. Fish. Biol. 49, 297-298. Mirza, M.R. and Bhatti, M.N. (1999) Biodiversity of the freshwater fishes of Pakistan and Azad Kashmir. Proc. Aq. Biodiversity, Pakistan (eds. Q.B. Kazmi and N.A. Kazmi). pp. 177-184. Moutopoulos, D.K. and Stergiou, K.I. (2002) Length-weight and length-length relationships of fish species from Aegean Sea (Greece). J. Appl. Ichthyol. 18, 200-2003. Pauly D, Gayanilo Jr. F.C. (1997) A Bee: An alternative approach to estimating the parameters of a length-weight relationship from length frequency samples and their bulk weights. NAGA ICLARM, Manila, Philippines. Pitcher, T.J. and Hart, P.J. (1982) Fisheries Ecology. Chapman and Hall, London. Tesch, F., W. (1971) Age and Growth. Methods for assessment of fish production in fresh waters. (ed. Ricker W. E.). pp. 99-130. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford. Zar, J.H. (1984) Biostatistical analysis. Prentice Hall, New Jersey.  718 p.

Studies on length-weight and length-length relationships of a catfish Eutropiichthyes vacha Hamilton (Schilbeidae: Siluriformes) from Indus river, Sindh, Pakistan Keywords:

catfish , Eutropiichthyes vacha , Indus river , length , weight , relationships