U. R. ZARGAR, A. R. YOUSUF, Basharat MUSHTAQ, Dilafroza JAN

Length weight relationship of the crucian carp, carassius carassius in relation to water quality, sex and season in some lentic water bodies of Kashmir Himalayas

In order to assess the impact of water quality, sex and seasons on the length-weight relationship, we examined the exotic fish, Carassius carassius in three water bodies of Kashmir Himalayas. The b value was higher in lake having the lowest nutrient enrichment level, showing that water quality may influence the growth of a fish. The results showed positive allometric growth (b>3.0; heavy group) in Manasbal and Anchar Lakes and isometric growth of equal increment of both parameters of length and weight in the Dal Lake. The correlation between length-weight relationships showed significant (P<0.05) positive trend. Females showed b value more than males in two lakes (Anchar and Manasbal lakes), whereas b value was high in males (b = 2.8) in Dal Lake. Data showed significant (P<0.05) differences in b value between male and female sexes in two lakes and insignificant (P>0.05) relationship in Anchar Lake. Multiple comparisons also showed significant (P<0.05) differences in b values among different seasons in Dal Lake. In addition, b value showed significant (P<0.05) difference with some physico-chemical features in Dal lake. Finally, we concluded that length-weight relationship in case of Crucian carp showed significant variation in three lakes with respect to water quality, season and sex.

PDF

___

Able, K.W., Manderson, J.P. and Studholme, A.L. 1999. Habitat quality for shallow water fishes in urban estuary: the effect of man-made structures on growth. Mar. Ecol., 187: 227235.

Adam, S.M. and Greely, M.S. 2000. Ecotoxicological indicators of water quality: Using multi-response indicators to assess the health of aquatic ecosystems. Water, Air and Soil Pollution, 123: 103-115.

Adams, S.M., Brown, A.M. and Goede, R.W. 1993. A quantitative health assessment index for rapid evaluation of fish condition in the field. Trans. Am. Fish. Soc., 122: 6373.

American Public Health Association 1998. Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater. American Public Health Association, the American Water Works Association and the Water Environment Federation. 20th Ed. Washington, DC: 1220

Beyer, J.E. 1987. On length-weight relationship. Computing the mean weight of the fish of a given length class. Fishbyte, 5: 1113.

Bolger, T. and Connoly, P.L. 1989. The selection of suitable indices for the measurement and analysis of fish condition. J. Fish Biol., 34: 171182.

Burke, J.S., Peters, D.S. and Hanson, P.J. 1993. Morphological indices and otolith microstructure of Atlantic croaker, Micropogonias undalatus, as indicators of habitat quality along an estuarine pollution gradient, Environ. Biol. Fishes, 36: 2533.

Cairns, J.J. 1983. Are single species toxicity tests alone adequate for estimating environmental hazard? Hydrobioloy, 100: 47-57

Cherif, M., Zarrad, R., Gharbi, H., Missaoui, H. and Jarboui, O. 2008. Length-weight relationships for 11 fish species from the Gulf of Tunis (SW Mediterranean Sea, Tunisia). Panam JAS. 3: 15.

Froese, R. and Pauly, D. 1998. Fishbase: concepts, design and data sources. ICLARM, Manila.

Grosse, D.J., Scholz, P.M., Hirshfield, M.F., Meaburn, G.M. and Fletcher, M. 1997. Fisheries and pollution: an overview. Trans. Am. Fish. Soc., 126: 13571380.

Jhingran, A.G. 1961. Studies on the maturity and fecundity of the Gangetic Anchovy Setipinna phasa (Ham.). Indian J. Fish., 8: 291-311

Karr, J.R. 1981. Assessment of biotic integrity using fish communities. Fisheries, 6: 21-27

Pandit, A.K. and Yousuf, A.R. 2002. Trophic status of Kashmir Himalayan lakes as depicted by water chemistry. J. Res. Dev., 2: 112.

Knaepkens, G., Knapen, D., Bervoets, L., Hanfling, B., Verheyen, E. and Eens, M. 2002. Genetic diversity and condition factor: a significant relationship in Flemish but not in German populations of the European bullhead (Cottus gobio L.). Heredity, 89: 280287.

Le Cren, E.D. 1951. The length-weight relationship and seasonal cycle in gonadal weight and condition in the perch, Perca fluviatilus. J. Animal Ecol., 20: 201219.

Mackereth, F.J.H., Heron, J. and Talling, J.F. 1978. Water analysis: some revised methods for limnologists. Freshwater Biological Association, Scientific Publication, 120 pp.

Moutopoulos, D.K. and Stergiou, K.I. 2002. Lengthweight and lengthlength relationships of fish species from the Aegean Sea (Greece). J. Applied Ichthyol., 18: 200203.

Muchlisin, Z.A., Musman, M. and Siti Azizah, M.N. 2010. Length-weight relationships and condition factors of two threatened fishes, Rasbora tawarensis and Poropuntius tawarensis, endemic to Lake Laut Tawar, Aceh Province, Indonesia. J. Applied Ichthyol., 26: 949953.

Arslan, M., Yildirim, A. and Bektas, S. 2004. Length-weight relationship of Brown Trout, Salmo trutta L., inhabiting Kan Stream, Coruh Basin, North-Eastern Turkey. Turkish Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Science, 4: 45-48

OECD 1982. Eutrophication of waters: Monitoring, assessment and control. OECD, Paris, 154 pp.

Ohle, W. 1956. Bioactivity, production, and energy utilization of lakes. Limnology and Oceanography, 1: 139149.

Pervin, M.R. and Mortuza, M.G. 2008. Notes on length-weight relationship and condition factor of freshwater fish, Labeo boga (Hamilton) (Cypriniformes: Cyprinidae). Univ. J. Zool. Rajshahi Univ., 27: 9798.

Przybylski, M. 1996. Variation in fish growth characteristics along a river course. Hydrobiology, 325: 3946.

Rawson, D.S. 1939. Some physical and chemical factors in the metabolism of lakes. In Problems of Lake Biology. Publication of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 926.

Ricker, W.E. 1973. Linear regression in fisheries research. J. Fish Res. Board Can., 30: 409434.

Salam, A., Naeem, M. and Kauser, S. 2005. Weight length and condition factor relationship of a freshwater wild Puntius chola from Islamabad, Pakistan. Pak. J. Biol. Sci., 8: 1112-1114.

Shafi, M. and Quddus, M.M. 1974. Length-weight relationship and condition factor in Hilsa hilsa (Hamilton) (Clupeiformes: Clupeidae). Bangladesh Journal of Zoology, 2: 179185.

Simon, T.P. 1999. Assessing the sustainability and biological integrity of water resources using fish condition CRS Press, Boca Raton, Florida. Smith, K.M.M. 1996. Length-weight relationships of fishes in a diverse tropical freshwater community, Sabah, Malaysia. J. Fish Biol., 49: 731734.

Sunder, S. and Subla, B.A. 1984a. Fish and fisheries of R. Jhelum, Kashmir. Zoologica Orientalis, 1: 3439.

Tesch, F.W. 1971. Age and growth. In: W.E. Ricker (Ed.), Fish Production in Fresh Waters. Blackwell, Oxford: 98130.

The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. 1974. An Analytical Guide. National Institute for Water Research, Pretoria South Africa.

Tsoumani, M., Liasko, R., Moutsaki, P., Kagalou, I. and Leonardos, I. 2006.

Lengthweight relationships of an invasive cyprinid fish (Carassius gibelio) from 12 Greek lakes in relation to their trophic states. J. Applied Ichthyol., 22: 281284.

Vidal, L.B. 2008. Fish as ecological indicators in Mediterranean freshwater ecosystems. PhD thesis Girona: University of Girona, Spain.

Weatherley, A.H. and Gill, H.S. 1987. The biology of fish growth. Academic Press, London, 443 pp.

Jennings, S., Kaiser, M.J. and Reynolds, J.D. 2001. Marine Fisheries Ecology. Blackwell Science Ltd., London, 277 pp.

Bagenal, T.B. and Tesch, F.W. 1978. Age and growth. In: T. Bagenal (Ed.), Methods for the Assessment of Fish Production in Fresh Waters, 3rd Edition. Blackwell Scientific Publications, London, 365 pp.

Froese, R. 2006. Cube law, condition factor and weightlength relationships: history, meta-analysis and recommendations. J. Applied Ichthyol., 22: 241-253. doi: 10.1111/j.1439-0426.2006.00805.x

Yousuf, A.R. and Pandit, A.K. 1992. Breeding biology of Schizothorax niger Heckel: Fecundity. Fish and Fishery Biology and Aquatic Ecology. Kash. Uni., India: 55-62

Yousuf, A.R., Firdus, G., Balkhi, M.H. and Pandit, A.K. 1992. Studies on the Length-weight relationship in some cyprinid fishes in Manasbal Lake, Fish and Fishery Biology and Aquatic Ecology. Kash. Uni., India: 199-206

Yousuf, A.R., Firdous, G. and Pandit, A.K. 2001. Length-weight relationship in Schizothorax niger Heckel, an endemic lacustrine fish of Kashmir. Journal of Research and Development, 1: 54-59

Zutshi, D.P., Subla, B.A., Khan, M.A. and Wanganeo, A. 1980. Comparative limnology of nine lakes of Jammu and Kashmir. Himalayan Hydrobiol., 72: 101112.