Indian Journal of Geo-Marine Sciences Vol. 40 (4), August 2011, pp 567-571 Length-weight relationship, condition factor and morphometry of gold spot mullet Liza parsia (Hamilton, 1822) from Cochin estuary Renjini P.K. & Bijoy Nandan S. Department of Marine Biology, Microbiology and Biochemistry Cochin University of Science and Technology, Fine Arts Avenue, Cochin 682016, Kerala, India E.mail: bijoynandan@yahoo.co.in Received 22 December 2009; revised 6 December 2010 Length-weight relationship was studied in Liza parsia collected from the Champakkara region of Cochin estuary during the year 2009. Slope value (b) estimated for Liza parsia male was found to be 3.1545, for female 3.0094 and for combined was 3.1938. The regression equation calculated for male was Log W = -2.2147 + 3.1545 Log L, for female was Log W = -2.0315 + 3.0094 Log L and for combined was Log W = -2.2596 + 3.1938 Log L. Length weight relationship and condition factor showed that the growth of L. parsia is quite satisfactory. Morphometric measurements of various body parts and meristic counts were recorded. There is no change in meristic counts in increase in body length. Thus from the study it could be inferred that, Liza parsia showed a satisfactory growth in the Cochin estuary. [Keywords: Liza parsia, length-weight relationship, condition factor, morphometry regression analysis] Introduction Length weight relationship studies of any fish species is a pre requisite for the study of its population by LeCren 1. Ponderal index or condition factor or the fatness (K) was worked out to assess the well-being of the population with the assumption that the growth of fish in ideal conditions maintain an equilibrium in length and weight by Hile 2. Data on length-weight relationship and the associated condition factor also enables to compare the population of the same species from different environments. Study of morphometric characters in fishes is important because they can be used for the differentiation of taxonomic units. Present study provides comprehensive information on the length weight relationship, relative condition factor and morphometry of Liza parsia (Hamilton, 1822) from Champakkara backwaters, Kerala. Mullets form one of the important fisheries in the coastal waters of India by Payne 3. The gold spot mullet Liza parsia (Hamilton, 1822) is one of the common mullet in Cochin estuary and constitutes a thriving fishery in the estuaries and brackish water lakes of Kerala by Kurup and Samuel 4. The major contributions on Liza parsia (Hamilton, 1822) are that of Sarojini 5,6, Luther 7, Kurup and Samuel 8, Babu and Neelakantan 9, Baburaj 10 and Wijayaratne and Costa 11. Studies on fish belonging to the family Mugilidae (grey mullets) were considered important. Many species of mullets raised in ponds were found quite often associated with other species. Liza parsia is an important species for aquaculture. A survey on the literature of Liza parsia showed very little information particularly in the Indian context, a precise knowledge on its biology is important. Hence the length-weight relationship, condition factor and morphometry of Liza parsia from a coastal estuarine system in Kerala is presented in this study. Materials and Methods Fresh fish samples were collected weekly during April 2009 to August 2009 from the fishermen of Champakkara region (Latitude 9º 57 27 N and Longitude 76º19 45 E) of the Cochin estuarine system. A total of 255 specimens of L. parsia ranging in size from 12 to 30 were used for the length-weight analysis, various morphometric measurements and meristic counts were collected. The relationship between various parameters was determined by the multiple regression analysis using the SPSS 16.0. After draining of the excess water using a filter paper, the length of fish was measured to the nearest mm using a mm scale and weight up to 0.1 g using a weighing balance. Fishes were divided into different sexes by observing the gonads after dissecting the abdomen. Length-weight relation of
568 INDIAN J. MAR. SCI., VOL. 40, NO. 4, AUGUST 2011 Length group No. of fishes combined Table 1 Data on length and weight of Liza parsia from Cochin Estuary No. of male the fishes was calculated from the logarithmic formula: Log W = Log a + b Log L. Thirty six morphometric and five meristic characters were studied following the standard procedures described by Apparao 12, and Dwivedi and Menezes 13. While doing the analysis, the total length was chosen as the base parameter with which the other parameters were related. Results Length-weight relationship Length weight equations were calculated separately for males, females and sexes combined. The fish samples were divided into 2 length groups (Table 1). When empirical values of lengths were plotted against their respective weight on an arithmetic scale, smooth curves were obtained (Figs. 1, 2 & 3). The length-weight relationship for Liza parsia was calculated as (Table 2) No. of female 12-14 4 13.3 20 3 13.2 20 1 13.6 20 14-16 43 15.1186 32.28 32 15.144 32.5 11 15.05 31.64 16-18 71 16.82 44.62 50 16.84 45.2 21 16.78 43.24 18-20 70 18.9 61.54 40 18.87 59.95 30 18.94 63.67 20-22 77 20.56 84.6 37 20.58 84 40 20.55 85.15 22-24 19 22.53 108.6 15 22.69 110.133 4 22.975 103 24-26 6 24.4 136.2 2 24.5 132 4 24.35 138.25 26-28 2 27.2 178 0 0 0 2 27.2 178 28-30 1 28.8 200 0 0 0 1 28.8 200 Table 2 K values of Liza parsia for different length groups Length group K value Male Female Combined 12-14 0.8681 0.7951 0.8498 14-16 0.9364 0.9409 0.9374 16-18 0.9364 0.9082 0.9488 19-20 0.8934 0.9288 0.9094 20-22 1.0827 0.9802 1.0045 22-24 0.8746 0.846 0.8686 24-26 0.8935 0.9571 0.9358 26-28 0.8828 0.8828 28-30 0.8372 0.8372 Fig 1 Length weight relationship of Liza parsia (Combined) Fig: 2 Length weight relationship of Liza parsia (Male) Combined W = 0.0055 L 3.1938 Log W = -2.2596 + 3.1938 log l r 2 = 0.9714 Male W = 0.0061 L 3.1545 Log W = -2.2147 + 3.1545 log l r 2 = 0.9562 Female W = 0.0093 L 3.0094 Log W = -2.0315 + 3.0094 log l r 2 = 0.9627 Fig: 3 Length weight relationship of Liza parsia (Female)
RENJINI & BIJOY: LENGTH-WEIGHT RELATIONSHIP, CONDITION FACTOR AND MORPHOMETRY OF GOLD 569 As may be seen from the equations, the exponential values for males, females and combined were practically identical. The coefficient of correlation, r 2 for combined, males and females for the regression of total length and body weight were estimated as 0.9714, 0.9562 and 0.9627 respectively which is significant at 5% level. Condition factor In the present study, the condition factor of Liza parsia male varied between 0.8621 and 1.0827, 0.7951 and 0.9802 in female and 0.8372 and 1.0045 in combined sexes. Morphometric and meristic characters Morphometric measurements of various parts of the body and their percentage ratio in relation to TL for males and females of 255 fishes are given in Table 3. As may be seen from the tables, fork length, standard length, pre-anal length, pre-pelvic length, pre-pectoral length, pre-dorsal length, dorsal fin height, body depth, body width, pelvic fin base, pelvic fin length, anal length, girth length, anal fin length, depth at pectoral, depth at dorsal, depth at anus, least height of caudal peduncle, head length, eye diameter, pre-orbital length, post-orbital length, inter-orbital width, upper jaw length, lower jaw length, depth of mouth, depth at eye and gape width were highly correlated with TL. For the meristic characters, dorsal fin rays, dorsal spines, pectoral fin rays, anal fin spines, anal fin rays, ventral spines and ventral rays were counted (Table 4). Table 3 Results of statistical analysis of morphometric characters No Characters Male Female R R 2 R R 2 1 Fork length.993.987.997.993 2 Standard length.992.985.993.986 3 Pre-anal length.963.927.803.645 4 Pre-pelvic length.957.915.965.932 5 Pre-pectoral length.942.887.826.683 6 Pre-dorsal length.965.931.959.920 7 Dorsal fin base.690.476.637.406 8 Dorsal fin height.834.696.884.781 9 Body depth.908.825.890.792 10 Body width.884.781.861.741 11 Caudal fin height.770.593.648.420 12 Anal fin base.672.452.658.433 13 Pelvic fin base.792.628.795.631 14 Pelvic fin length.913.833.930.865 15 Pectoral fin length.830.689.654.427 16 Anal length.843.710.892.796 17 Girth length.910.829.902.814 18 Anal fin length.781.611.784.614 19 Depth at pectoral.909.825.859.738 20 Depth at dorsal.840.706.881.775 21 Pectoral fin base.764.583.739.547 22 Height of second dorsal.811.658.606.367 23 Depth at anus.870.757.890.792 24 Length of peduncle.767.588.694.481 25 Least height of caudal peduncle.830.689.882.778 26 Head length.913.833.952.906 27 Eye diameter.778.605.818.669 28 Pre-orbital length.826.683.891.793 29 Post-orbital length.922.850.937.877 30 Inter-orbital width.921.849.929.863 31 Upper jaw length.844.712.876.767 32 Lower jaw length.844.712.876.767 33 Depth of mouth.774.600.787.620 34 Depth at eye.870.757.848.719 35 Gape width.873.762.875.766
570 INDIAN J. MAR. SCI., VOL. 40, NO. 4, AUGUST 2011 Length group Table 4 Meristic counts in different length groups of Liza parsia First dorsal Second dorsal fin Pectoral fin Ventral fin Anal fin fin spines Spines Rays rays Spines Rays Spines Rays 12-14 4 1 8 14 1 5 3 9 14-16 4 1 8 14 1 5 3 9 16-18 4 1 8 14 1 5 3 9 18-20 4 1 8 14 1 5 3 9 20-22 4 1 8 14 1 5 3 9 22-24 4 1 8 14 1 5 3 9 24-26 4 1 8 14 1 5 3 9 26-28 4 1 8 14 1 5 3 9 28-30 4 1 8 14 1 5 3 9 Discussion It is universal that growth of fishes or any other animal increases with the increase in body length. Thus, it can be said that length and growth are interrelated. Length weight relationship is expressed by the cube formula W = al 3 by earlier workers (Brody 14 ; Lagler 15 ; Brown 16 ). In the present study the value of b of Liza parsia ranged from 3.0094 to 3.1938. Here both length and weight were positively correlated. A similar case of b value was observed in Mugil cephalus by Luther 7. A study regarding the length-weight relationship of Liza parsia in relation to industrial pollution gave b value range of 2.4986 to 2.5210 by Rao, et al 17. Mortuza and Rahman 18 estimated the length weight relationship of Rhinomugil corsula and was Log W= -4.914±2.941logL in male and Log W= -5.052± 3.008logL in female. Katselisi et al 19 estimated the length-weight relationship of Liza saliens as Log W= 0.0079± 3.01logL. Arrudai et al 20 calculated the length-weight relationship of Liza aurata as log W =-1.938 + 2.929logL and that of Liza ramada was expressed as: logw = - 1.978 + 2.937 log L. In the case of Valmugil seheli Moorthy et al 21 reported the b value as 2.6207 showing an allometric growth pattern. Kurup and Samuel 8 calculated the lengthweight relationship of Liza parsia of Cochin estuary and found that the b value of male is 2.5619 and that of female is 2.4465 where the regression coefficient of female is lower than the male. A similar finding is also obtained in the present study in which the regression coefficient of female is lower than that of the male. Babu and Neelakantan 9 reported the b values of male and female as 2.79632 and 2.98863 respectively. All the earlier reports are in compliance with the present study in which the b value was very close to isometric value of 3 and this indicated that Liza parsia in the present study showed an isometric growth. The condition factor obtained in the present study ranged between 0.0099to1.9652. In male it varied from 0.7259 to 1.27 and in female it varied from 0.0099 to 1.9652 and the K value of female is higher than that of male. Rao et al 17 reported that the condition factor of Liza parsia varied from 0.64 to 1.69. During the present study, 36 morphometric characters were taken from species Liza parsia. Of these characters, base of anal fin and dorsal fin showed a positive correlation in both sexes. In the case of female, caudal fin height, pectoral fin length, second dorsal height and length of peduncle showed a positive correlation and all the other characters in both sexes showed a high degree positive correlation. For instance, Dube and Dubey 22 in their study on Indian Mahseer recorded a simultaneous growth in length of head with increase in total length of fish. Al-Absy 23 while studying the relationship between the standard length and 21 morphometric measurements in the goat fish Mulloides flavolineatus recorded a steady increase in all measurements. It is clear that the spine and rays of first dorsal fin, second dorsal fin, anal fin, pectoral and ventral fin of Liza parsia remained constant in all groups of fishes having different body length. It means that in this study the meristic counts are independent of body size and there is no change in meristic counts in increase in body length following Talwar and Jhingran 24 and Vladykov 25. This corroborates with the studies in other fishes such as Mahseer sp. by Zafar et al 26. Variations in meristic characters were reported in many fishes such as Nematalosa nasus by Al-Hassan 27, Pseudobagrus ichikawai by Watanabe 28, and Perophyllum scalare by Bibi et al 29. Thus from the present investigation on length weight relationship and condition factor of Liza parsia indicate that the growth rate is quite satisfactory.
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