Reproductive Biology of Estuarine Catfish, Mystus Gulio (Hamilton-Buchanan)

Seethal Lal S., Jaya D. S., Sherly Williams E

Abstract: A preliminary study on reproductive biology of estuarine catfish, M. gulio was conducted using samples collected from Vattakkayal, a part of Ashtamudi estuary which is located is located at 8?55'3 North latitude and 76?32'57 East longitude. The fish samples were collected in February, 2014 to January, 2015. Total length of Mystus gulio was found to be 18.32 ? 4.06 cm in female, and 17.15 ? 3.99 cm in male. The minimum length at first maturity for males and females was 8.3 and 8.5 cm respectively. Their Fecundity was in a range of 5, 950 to 1, 41, 210 and the mean values for Gonado Somatic Index of females and males were found to be 13.15? 6.44, 1.02?.55 respectively.

Keywords: M gulio, Vattakkayal, reproductive biology