THE BIOLOGY OF THE CATFISH Rita rita (Ham.) OF THE RIVERINE WATERS IN NORTH INDIA
DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF Muittx of $Posiopl)p IN Z00106Y
BY N. TAMUBI DfiVI A#. Sc.
DEPARTMENT OF ZOOLOGY FACULTY OF LIFE SCIENCES ALIGARH MUSLIM UNIVERSITY ALIGARH (INDIA) 1987 5Q J^imt
DS1117 r L'niversily : 2S5 DEPARTMENT OF ZOOLOGY Phones ) Public ' : 5646 ALIGARH MUSLIM LMVERSH'k 0 Sections : Ri'f. \o 1 ENTOMOLOGY 2 PARASITOLOGY 3 ICHTHYOLOGY £t FISHERIES ^(;,^, 21st December, 19b7 4 AGRICULTURALNEMATOLOGY 5 GENETICS Dr. M. Shahid Siddiqul M.Sc.(Alig.),Ph.D.(L'pool),F.Z.S.(Lond.) Reader, Departrr:ent of Zoology. This is to certify that Miss N. Tamubi Devi has undertaken research on 'the biology of the catfish Rita rita (Ham.) of the river ine waters in North India*, under my supervi sion. The contents of the thesis are her own original research work. I permit Miss Tamubi Devi to submit the thesis tov/ards the partial fulfilment of the requirement of the M, Phil, degree in Zoology of the Aligarh Muslim Uni versity, Aligarh. ( M. SHAHID SIDDlgUl) Reader, Department of Zoology. C O N T h, N T b PAGi, NC. CHAPTER - I : GiiNLkAL INTRODUCTION 1 i) A SHORT DESCRIPTION 4 • OF THE FISH ii) DISCRIPTION OF THE RIVER YAMUNA AND ITS FISHERY iii) AIM AND SCOPE OF THE 11 STUDY CHAPTER - II : MORPHO^iETRIC STUDY 12 CHAPTER - III : AGE AND GROV.TH 17 CHAPTER - IV : FOOD AND FEEDING HABITS 26 CHAPTER - V : REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY 35 SUI^il'iARY 46 ACKNO'i^LEDGEMENTS 50 REFERENCES 52 APPENDIX 65 ChAPl'ER I GLNtkAL INTRODUCTION GhNLKAL I^iTt Fish occupies an important place in the Indian mythology, history and tradition. Accoraing to the mythology, one of the incarnation of God was in the form of fish (Matsyavatha). Profuse references to fish are found in the great epics of the country in the stone carving and paintings. Traditionally fish ing has been the principal avocation for the liveli hood of a segment of the population, living' in the coastal region and on the bank of rivers, la'kes and canftals. Early naturalist like Hamilton Buchannan, Sykes, Jordon, Gunther, Day, Anaerson and others, who worked on the Indian aquatic fauna made valuable contributions on the systematics, distribution and bionomics of the fresh-water and marine fishes of the Indian sub-continent. As the world's population increases cease-lessly, more attention is being paid towards the development of fisheries to meet tr.e growi-ng demand of proteinous food. Therefore, the fishes are very important group of vertebrates for the human consumption. Even though, the Inland water resources are very low when compared with terrestrail resources due to the fact that the aqua tic resources are neither well understooa nor properly managed. The important aspect of fishery management entirely depenas upon the knowledge ot natural history of fxshes, their food anc feeding habits, growth, mig ration, breeding and population. Without the adequate knowledge of the biology of fishes, it will be futile task to manage fishery (Panikkar, 1952), so, modern fishery scientists have paid the attention towards the investigations relating to the biology of fishes. A considerable research work on the biology of fresh-water fishes of ponds, rivers and their tributa ries, lakes and cannals has been undertaken (Khan, 1924; Rao, 1935; Hora, 1945; Frost, 1945; LeCren, 1947, Moo- kherjee, et al., 1947; Alikunhi, 1953, 1969; Das and Moitra, 1955 a, 1955 b; Jhingran, 1957 and 1959; Pan- tulu, 1956; Vasisht, i960; Saigal and Mot wani, 1962; Chakraborty and Singh, 1963; Qayyum and Qaslm, 1964; Qasim and Bhatt, 1964, 1966; Sinha and Jone, 1967; Kagwada, 1971; Bhatt, 1970 and 1971; Pannella, 1971; Rao and Rao, 1972; Saxena, 1972; Khan and Qayytim, 1973; Chatterjee, 1976; Mojumder, 1977; Das and Mojximder, 1978; Fagade, 1980; Reddy, 1981; and Khumar and Siddi- qui, 1983). Preliminary studies on the early life history and bionomics of Rita rlta were undertaken by Karam- chandani and Motwani (1955). This was followed by scanty observations on the fecundity of the fish by Das (1964), Saxena (1964) attempted to determine age in Rita rita« Saxena (1972) was able to demonstrate some aspects of the reproGuctive biology of Rita rlt:a of the river Ganga. Rita rita is commercially import ant fish from both capture and culture points of view. Considering the paucity of literature on the biology of the fish from river Yamuna, it was intended to investigate the various aspects of the biology of the fish viz, morphometry, age Si growth, food & feeding habits and reproduction of the fish from the river Yamuna. ( i ) SHORT DlSCRIPTION OF THE FISH Rita rita (Ham.) is distributed in Northern part of India, Pakistan and Nepal. This Is character ised by the possession of hollow Inflated dorsal and pectoral spines. The maximum size of the fish is about 122 cm but 46 cm is common size. Rita sp. retains its vitality for a long time after it Is taken out of water and may be sold alive in local market. It is highly palatable fish in North India. Systematic Position Classification: Phylum Chordata Sub-phylum Vertebrata Super class Gnathostomata Division Pisces class Teleostomi Order Cyprini formes Family Bagrldae Genus Rita Species rita Taxonomic Characters 1. Body naked, not covered by scales. 2. Maxillary bone reduced, supporting the barbels. 3. Second, third, fourth and sometime the fifth vertebrae fused. 4. Colour brownish olive green on the dorsal sur face and lighter towards the lower. 5« Upper surface of the head is covered with skin except a small area# anterior to the base of the occipital process. 6. The Occipital process* Scapular and Cubito- humeral process are all granular. 7. Upper jaw is longer than the lower one. 8. Barbels 3 pairs, the nasal barbel is short with a broad base and pointed at the tip, the maxillary barbels nearly reach the end of the head and mandibular a little behind. 9. 1st dorsal and pectoral fins are supported by strong spines and second dorsal fin is adipose* 10. Pectoral spine shorter than the dorsal one and is denticulated on both the edges but mere strong ly along the inner margin. 11. Ventral fins arising just behind the last dorsal fin ray (Plate I). Habitat « The fish is known to inhabit around stony areas of the river. These are found mostly in between stones Plate I - Rita rita (Ham.) of the rivers and around deep pools on the sides of the rivers particularly aroxind bridges where stones are in abundance (personal commxinication with fishermen) • The fish is generally caught by cast net for commercial cat ches. The fish is also known to take bait easily, there fore, these are also caught from hook and line (Saxena, 1972) . The other biological characters are described in subsequent chapters. **** (ii) DISCRIPTION OF THE KIVLR YAMUNA AND ITS FISHERY River Yamuna is one of the major components of the Ganga river ^stem which is the largest river system in India* It borders parts of the state of Panjab and Haryana and flows through the Union territory of Delhi. The Yamuna is about 1000 Km long and has its source at about 8 Km. north of the Yamunotri hot spring in the Himalayas. It enters the Doon Valley below Kalsi and the plains in Saharanpur Oistrict in Uttar Pradesh. It continues to flow south ward through Delhi upto Ma- thura from where it flows generally in south east till it meets the Ganga at Allahabad. The nearest point of the river Yamuna from Aligarh is 48 Km. (Khumar, 1985). It is located at latitude of 27° 57* and a longitude of 77*^ 18*. Maps 1 shows the location of the river Yamuna. Table I presents the physico-chemical character- istics of the river Yamuna/ which was investigated by Khumar (1985). River Yamuna differs from the Ganga in various physical characteristics. The Yamuna is deeper and retains several times more water than the Ganga. The Yamuna shows a feeble current during summer but a fast one during monsoon. The river Yamuna has a clayed bed, rich in organic matter and aquatic vegetation. Physico-chemical conditions of river Yamuna at Allahabad in relation to plankton concentration have been studied by Chakraborty e_t CLI. (1959) and Ray et al. (1966) The ratio of zooplankton to phytoplankton was found to be MAP SHOWING THE LOCATiOf; OF THF ^IVER YAMUNA. DAK PATHAft HATHNIKUND •50" >'AMUNA NAGAP -29 ^28" -27 ^26- \-25' ALLAHABAD h24- 77^ 73 •iC di _) 83 MAPJ _J TABLE - I PhYSICO-CH£^MICAL CHAx^ACTEKI^TICS OF THE RJVEK YAMUNA DUklNG 1979-1983 CHARACTERS klVlR YAMUNA Surface water temperature 18°C - 34°C Turbidity lOlO - 2540 ppm PH 7.0 - 8.0 Dissolved Oxygen 4.6 - 11.4 ppm Free Carbon Dioxide 2.0 - 9.5 ppm Carbonate 1.0 - 13.2 ppm Bicarbonate 65 - 2 54 ppm Chloride 8 - 52 ppm Phosphate 0.02 - 0.10 ppm Nitrate 0.05 - 0.30 ppm Silicate 4.6 - 22 ppm Ammonia Traces By courtesy of Khumar (1985) 8 1:3 (Jhingran, 1982) • Jhingran et al. (1970) reported that the chiro- nomid larvae and annelids formed the benthic dominant group during the major part of the year. The other in vertebrate fauna of the river is a follows: Mollusca: Corbicula accidens, Melania tuberculata/ Viviparous ben- qalensis^ Succina qravelvi and Cryraulus sp. Amphipodas Gammarus pulex Crustacea: Palaemon lamarrei^ Macro- chius macolmsonii The following fish species are found in the river Yamuna (Jhingran, 1982); 1. Family : Cyprimidae Cirrhina mriqala, Catla catta, Labeo rohita, L. calbasu, L. bata, L. qonius, L. punqasius, L, dero, L, dynochielus, Pun- tius sarana, P. sophore, P. stigma» Qxyqaster bacaila, O^, qora, Esomus danricus. 2. Family s Cobitidae Lapidocephalichthyes quntia* 3. Family : Chanr.icae Channa punctatus, C. stria-tus, C. qachua» C. marulus. 4. Family : Bagriaae Rita rita# Mystus aor, M, seenqhala, M, vlttatus, M. bLeeXeri, M, cavaslus, Muqil corsula 5. Family : Siluridae Wall ago a-ttu, Ompok bimaculatus^ O. pabda. 6. Family : Schilceidae Eutropicht-hyes vacha< Panqa- sius panqasius/ Silonia silon- dia« Ailla coli. 7. Family : Saccr.ccranchidae Heteropneustes fossilis 8. Family : Clari::aae Clarias batrachus, 9. Family : Sisoridae baqarius baqarius 10. Family : Notopteridae Notopterus notopterus/ N. chitala. 10 11. Family : Clupeidae hllsa ilisha/ Gadusla chepra. 12. Family : Anabantidae Trichoqaster fasciata» 13. Family : Nandidae Nandus nandus 14. Family : Gobiidae Glassoqobius qulris 15. Family s Poecilidae Gambusia affinis 16. Family : Amphinidae Amphipnous cuchia 17. Family » M«t£cembelidae Mast-acembelus armatus/ M. puncalus« Rhynchobdella aculeata. ******* (iii) AIM AND SCOPE OF THE STUDY 11 For the management and conservation of fisheries, the fishery biologist should know the various biological asp>ects of a fish species with respect to its food and feeding habits, age and growth and reproduction. The study of age and growth of a fish, gives information on general-well-beings of the fish, varia tions in growth between the age, age at first maturity stage, the size of fish at breeding age. So, a knowledge of age and growth of a fish is useful in the management of fishery. The reproductive biology is an important aspect of fishery biology. The success or failure of a species in a biosphere largely depends on its reproductive capa city. Rita rita is a commercially important cat-fish inhabited in riverine waters and their tributaries. There fore, it was intended to investigate the various aspects of the biology of the fish namely morphometric studies age and growth, food and feeding habits, and reproduc tion. The results, so, obtained will be useful in the management and development of riverine fisheries in India. ***** CHAPTER II MORPhOMETRlC STUDIES 12 INTRODUCTION; ^t is important to study the morphobiological aspect of an organism for identification of a species. Radha-Krishnan (1957) said that slight but significant changes occur in the morpho-metric measurements between the fishes of different stocks, races or populations. Morpho-metric studies of various commercially important fresh-water fishes were investigated by many workers (Pritchard, 1931; Godsil, 1948; Menon, 1952;' Chauhan and Ramakrishnan, 1953; Marr, 1956; Pillay, 1957;* Tondon, 1962; Krumbolz and Cavanah, 1968; Nataiajan e^ al..# 1977; Tariq et al., 1977; Chatterjee e_t a^** 1977; Acharya and Dwivedi, 1984 and Khumar, 1985). Earlier attempts were made to investigate morpho- metric characters of the commercially important cat-fish Rita rita by Day (1878) in generalized form, however/ the literature on ecological influences of morphological characters are scarce. Therefore, the present investiga tion is a specific study of the morphological character of the cat-fish Rita rita from the river Yamuna. MATERIAL AND METHOD; A total 202 specimens of Rita rita from river Yamuna were collected from Aligarh fish market from Jan uary to December, 1986. The measurement of the fishes 13 were taken to nearest mm. The fish were sexed. Morpho- metric studies were made on the basis of the measurements of total length/ forked length, standard length, head length, distance between the pectoral fin base and the depth of the body at caudal peduncle of the fish. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONt The forked length (F.L.), Standard Length (S.L.) and head length (H.L.) were calculated as 87.24%, 81.09% and 22.91% of the total length of the fish respectively. The distance between the pectoral fin base (D.P.) and the depth of the body at caudal penducle (D.C.) were found to be 19.5% and 7.79% of the total length of the fish respectively.^ A regression of different body measurements on the total length of some of the fish was also computed Plate II - Morphometric measurement of the fish T.L. » Total length F.L. = Forked length D.P.= Distance between pectoral fin base S.L, = Standard length D.C.= Depth at caudal penducle H,L. = Head length 14 along with the coefficient of correlation between the two parameters of the body sepoLrately for each character. Fig. 1 shows the linear regression of various morpho- metric characters of the male fish. Mathematical value of regression equation were expressed as follow: Y (F.L.) » 10.88 + 0.8358 x ; (r = 0.9957) Y (S.L.) = 1.663 + 0.8066 x ; (r = 0.9857) Y (H.L.) a 17.6223 + 0.1662 x ; (r = 0.9135) Y (D.P.) « 3.8290 + 0.1813 x ; (r = 0.5285) Y (D.C.) a 1.0150 + 0.0792 x ; (r = 0.9694J Where, Y = Body measurements X = Total body length of the fish in mm and r = Coefficient of correlation Similarly, the forked length, standard length and head length of the female fish were expressed as per cent of their total body length. The percentage of ihe forked length, standard length and head length was found to be 88.98%, 81.33% and 22.91% of the total body length of the fish respectively. The distance between the pec toral fin base was 20.09% of the total length of the fish. The depth of the fish at caudal penducle was 7.3 2/of the total length of the fish. 350 - 300 - 250 I 1/1 200 - 160 - a. in < 100 Q o 100 150 200 250 300 350 AGO A50 500 550 TOTAL LENGTH OF THE FISH (mm) Fig. 1 Relationship between various body measurements and the total length of the fish of the river Yamuna. 15 A regression analysis of the morphometric characters of the female fish was made in order to obtain linear equation (see fig. 2). There wag 4 Hifh degree of correlation between total length and otheiF different variables. The regression equation along with coefficient of correlation 'r' of females is given below: Y (F.L.) = 13.012 + 0.8354 x; (r = 0.9847) Y (S.L.) a 0.5399 + 0.8124 x; (r = 0.9836) Y (H.L.) = - 3.6081 -». 0.2355 x; (r = 0.9848) Y (D.P.) = - 7.2216 + 0.2306 x; (r = 0.9734) Y (D.C.) = - 2.0287 + 0.0824 x; (r = 0.9283) Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 based on the table II show that various body characters of both male and female fish have a linear relationship with the total body length of the fish. It may be concluded that the fish has an iso- metric growth. Natarajan et al.,(1977); Tariq et al»» (1911) t Chatterjee et al., (1977) and Khumar (1985) have also reported that the linear relationship of the various body parts of the other fish species with the total length of fish. Chatterjee et ajL./ (1977) and Khumar (1985) while studying the morphometric characters of fish reported that the growth of various boay parts of the fish grew directly proportional to the body length of the fish showing isometric growth. However, a non- 400 FEMALE 350 £ 300 E I Z 250 - UJ I •— O ^ 200 z UJ Ul cc 150 < UJ >- o 100 50 ' 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500 TOTAL LENGTH OF THE FISH ( mm) Fig. 2: Relationship bet-vieen various body measurements and the total length of the fish at the river Yamuna. 1 C Q) O 1 4J (T> r- tn in in U -H •H C LO r~ ro 00 CO U -P m (u ON CO T-« CM ra O rO O 4H -H CTi a\ ON in in U r-l U 0) 0 • t • • O o o o I +> (0 D> •* o\ rH t-l s U C -PC vO CNJ o vD CM CM 0) Q) m O Q) • • • • 04 U O EH rH r* ri CM 00 CO 00 00 CNJ iH s X X X X C 13 O GO U3 CM n CM •H in \o VO «-i a\ < P ro o VO 00 c- 00 CO T-i rH o • • • • • o o o o o W + Q If) + + + + + O (0 C (0 £Q O ro n o o •H II VO CM o\ in W 00 VO CM CM Z CO VO VO 00 0) Q) 1-1 ro M 01 CM 0) PM 1-1 (<4 It n n II 11 Q o >1 >i >i >1 >> o X o z z CO VO r^ VO un CO CO o o C Di >i to I -P--^ • • • VO o HI m c TJ oj a> c E ro in c^ • * VO VO CO (i)(i)M-ioa)V4a)g •* CO in CM CM in s hj o cQ E d e-^ CM o i o Ji y-^ t^ r* t^ C^ rH P fO ro ro ro ro C (0 D> E • • • • • no P C E m CM CM CM CM CM (POO) O o O O o S EH.a "^ ro ro ro ro o ro z o H p E-i o ^ 0) 1 0) -P (U fO u U C 0 0) (0 -H M CN TJ x: (0 J3 J2 C (U X 'U x: < CO fO CN ro OS o fO VO 00 CNJ o 00 00 CN •«t • >i >i >. >i VO CM r-l CM CO iH r~ v£» r- ro • • • • o t-i 00 CM CO ri iT) in CM CM •«<• •* •* •* o\ a\ o\ c^ fO • • • • c^ <^ c^ a\ cr» in in in in in CM CM CM CM CM 1 o -o (U 4J 4-> (U M o c u c 03 r-H TD x: (0 ;: £ C 0) CU H rS U CM 9) -P T3 +J +> 03 0) 0«>W x: (0 3 >; en c cn 'O d +J 3 0) VXJ X) u c m c (0 C n P 0) H 16 linear relationship between various body measurements and the total length of fish has been obtained by some workers (Godsil, 1948 and Marr, 1955). It may be because these fishes were not having an isometric growth pattern throughout their life. Thus, it may be inferred that Rita rita has a different growth pattern than those ob served by Godsil (1948) and Marr (1955). Slight difference has been observed in various body measurements of male and female fishes. It has been observed that the numerical value of the percentage of forked length, standard length, head length ana distance between the pectoral fin base was higher than those of the male fishes. However, it is interesting to note that the male fish is fast grower than the female fish. This may be because of the physiological difference in the male and female fish after attaining the maturity. Such pheno menon has also been reported by Khumar (1985) . The morphometric statistics showed a slight cessa tion of caudal penducle of female fish as compared to that of the male fish. The male fish has been observed to attain a higher value of percentage than that of the female fish. This difference of the caudal peduncle may be attributed to the Sexual dimorphism of the fish. By and large, it may be concluded that the fish has a linear and isometric growth pattern throughout its life. The fish exhibits sexual dimorphism as shown in Plate III. **** MALE FEMALE Plate III - Sexual dimorphism between male and female of Rita rita. ChAPTEh III AGE AND GKOVvTH 17 INTRODUCTION: The age and growth studies of some fresh-water carnivorous fishes were undertaken by some workers (Frost/ 1945; Le Cren, 1947, 1951; Pantulu, 1956; Qasim and Bhatt, 1964; Lai and Dwevedi, 1965; Frost and Kip-ling, 1967; Sinha and Jone, 1967; Kagwada, 1971; Pannella, 1971; Mojumder, 1977; Dan and Mojumder, 1978; Fagade, 1980; Reddy, 1981 and Abbas, 1983). however, earlier investi gation on the age and growth of cat-fish were undertaken using length frequency distribution polygon by bhatt (1970). Subsequently Anwar (1985) investigated the age and growth of Wallaqo attu and Mystus seenqhala using operculars and otoliths as indicators of age. Saxena (1964) gave a brief account of a technique of photograph ing small vertebrae centra as an aid to decipher the age of Rita rita. Lai and Dwevedi (1965) dealt with length weight relationship of Rita rita briefly. How ever* the literature on the age and growth of Rita rita is scanty. Therefore, the present investigation deals with the relationship between opercular bone and body length, maximum size and age, specific growth rate and length-weight relationship of the fish from the river Yamuna. MATERIAL AND METHODS; The samples for the present investigation com- P rised of 224 fish of the river Yamuna for the study of 18 age and growth. The total length of each fish was mea sured to the nearest millimeters from the tip of the snout to the longest ray in the caudal fin ray. Each fish was weighed on a balance. Sexes were determined by examination of squash preparation of the gonad under a microscope. The opercular bones and otoliths of each fish were removed to determine the age of the fish. The otoliths were kept in small envelope and each envelope was labelled serially. The opercular bones were boiled in 10% of potassium hydroxide solution to clean the mus cles. Well dried opercular bones were examined under binocular microscope by placing it against a black back ground under reflected light to determine the age of the fish. The technique of grinding the otolith was the same as described by Sinha and Jones (1967) . The convex surface of each otolith was grinded by hand on fine car- borandum stone on which there was a little of dilute hydrochloric acid. The otoliths were periodically exam ined under binocular microscope to check the appearance of the growth rings. When the rings were visible, the otoliths were put Into the water to remove the acid then transferred it to absolute alcohol for 1 to 3 minvitps and finally kept into medicinal creosote solution for about 24 hours. Subsequently the otoliths were examined 19 under binocular microscope to verify the age readings taken by opercular bones. The opercular length was measured from the fo cus to the anterior right or left margins. The distance between focus and successive annuli were measured with the help of a transparent sectional paper of 1 mm unit. The relationship between body length and opercular len gth of the fish was established and regression equation of the two variables was determined. The length attained by the fish at the time of formation of various annuli were back calculated from the opercular bone of each fish. The back calculation was done by using the following formula. L = i (Lee, 1920) Where, L, « the total length of the fish S. = the distance between the focus and each annulus of the opercular bone b = total length of the opercular bone from focus upto the edge of the bone, The specific growth rate of the fish was cal- culated individually using the formula. Log eL^ - Log eL G = ^ X 100 (Ball and Jones, T2 - T^ 1960) 20 Where, L and L^ are the length of the fish at T, and T- age respectively and G is the specific growth rate as the percentage increase per unit time. The value of Tp - T, is one. The relationship between specific growth rate with age and with length were established. The length-weight relationship of the fish was expressed as: W = a L" (Lagler, 1956) Where, W is the weight of the fish in g. L is the length of the fish in mm. "a" and "n" are constant to be determined emperically. Le Cren (1951) said that the length-weight re lationship would be calculated as logarithmic fonriala. Log W = Log a + n Log L To find out the value of "a", the to-Llo\ ing equation was used: HLog W X ^(log L)^ - '^(log L x log w) Log a = ' ' ~5 5 N x "ildog L)'' - (Hlog L) "" 21 v.hei e. Log h = logarithmic value of length (L) Log V< = logarithmic value of weight (w) M = number of observations As log a is in our hand, the next step is to find slope "n" for which the following formula was usedJ _T. logV^-rA/x log a) TlLog L '^o-efficient correlation of the fish was also calculated by veing the fonnula described below: N X ^ X y - $2^ ^ ^Y N X ^X^ - ( -^X^ ) N X "2:Y^ - ( ^Y)^ RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONt Fig, 3 shows relationship between the body length and opercular bone of the fish. The equation of regression of opercular length on total length of the fish a straight line relationship was found. The equations are as follows: Y = 2.335 + 0.0371 x (O) Y = 1.6166 + 0.0328 x ( cf ) Where, X is the total length of the fish and Y is the length of the opercular bone. 100 150 200 250 300 350 AOO 450 TOTAL LENGTHOF THE FISH (mm) Via. 3» Regression of opercular bone against total length of the Rita rita of the river Yamuna. 22 The values of correlation coefficient r =* 0.9449 and r = 0.9561 were calculated for males and females res pectively indicated a significant correlation between the two variables. It was observed that fish length increment was directly proportional to the opercuJa r length as shown by the figure 3 • The age of the fish were determined by opercular bones and otoliths. The opaque and translucent zones on the opercular bones and otoliths were clearly visi ble. The age of the fish was determined by counting the translucent zone on the opercular bone and otolith. Plate IV and V indicate the number of the translucent zones on the opercular bones and otoliths of the fish which represent respective age of the fish. Fig. 4 based on table III & IV show the mean length of Rita rita for different age groups. There was a difference in the mean lengths for age between males and females. The males were found to attain a length of 149 mm, 202 mm, 254 mm, 294 mm and 341 mrr. for 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 years of life respectively. The females were found to attain the length of 153 mm, 207 mm, 258 mm, 290 mm, 333 mm, 364 mm and 437 mm at the end of 1, 2, 3, 4,'5, 6 and 7 years of life respectively. The absolute growth of female was better than that of the male upto 3 years. ' From 4th year on-wards the growth of the male exceeded the (jrowth of female. Similar pheno- Plate - IV (a) Opercular bone and (b) Otolith Showing 2 annuli- Length of fish = 223 mm Sex = O Date of capture = 7.4,1986 Plate - IV 'l«t« T (a) Op*rouIar !»••• mmd. (h) Otallth 8h«wi«g 6 MUiuIis LMRth mt flail • 379 •» mm m Q Oat* mt oaptura m 39.IO,86 Plate - V Fig. 4: Calculated mean length for age of male and female Rita rita of the river Yamuna. 23 menon of the variation in the absolute growth between male and female was also observed in the other cat-fishes viz. Mystus seenqhala and Vvillaqo attu by Anvvar (1985) . he explained that the subsequent fall in growth of female was as a result of spawning stress. The same may be true for Rita rita which spawn in 3rd years of life and subsequently there was a gradual increase in the fecun dity of the fish with the increasing age (see Chapter v). Therefore, the growth potential in female is directed more towards gonad building than body increment. Fig. 5 shows the percentage specific growth rate (G) of Rita rita ( cf ) was 32.2, 23.1, 11.5 and 16.2 of male for I - II, II - III, III - IV and IV - v years respectively. The specific growth rate of the female was 32.2, 20.7, 11.5, 13.8, 13.8 and 13.8 for I - II, II - III, III - IV, IV - V, V - VI and VI - VII years respectively. Generally the specific growth rate of the fish decreased with increasing age. Anwar (1985) found that the specific growth decreased with increas ing age and size of cat-fishes. Ball and Jones (i960) also found that the specific growth rate of Llyn Tegid trout decreased with increasing age and size. Length - weight relationship provides a measure to convert the length into weight and vice-versa. Such a relationship also provides information on the well- < QC O oc o u u. o UJ Q. «/> bJ < z UJ o oc ut Q. z < UJ I-II II-III III-IV IV-V V-VI VI-VII AGE IN YEARS Fig. 5: Changes in specific growth rate with age of Rita rita. 24 being of the fish and variation in growth. The cube law is based on the assumption that the weight is a volume function and length is a linear in function and the weight of the fish is roughly equal to the cube of the length. Fig. 6 shows the logarithmic values of length and weight. The regression of the log weight on log length was calculated by least square method and seperate equation for males and females are a s fo llows along with the values of coefficient of correla tion (r) . Log W = - 4.0928 + 2.6524 log L & (r=:0.8963) Log W = - 6.7750 + 3.7664 log L 0 (r=0.9695) There was a high degree of correlation between the two variables of both the sexes. The value of the slope 'n' for the male vas 2.6 which is less than 3, while the value of 'n* for the female was 3.7, which is more than 3. Thus, it may be concluded that the veight increment of the female was more than that of the male, ^t was evident from the data that female were robust as compared with that of males. This variation may be as a result of gonad development. Further, it may be pointed out the females were havier in smaller sized fishes while the males were havier than females in the large sized fishes. This phenomenon was also observed in some carps by Chakraborty and Singh (1963) and Khumar / O / •—• c/ P/ 0--0 0 3.0 1 1 X O / / O) in -' O/ o •" to^ U,7 "•^ u. if* 19 <^ I 2.5 if ^ t- f^ / ** u. ^* ¥ •:'• o -^ 7 * -. X "-./ 5?^ 2.0 ^ "'17 r" o -1 1.5 / ' /o 1.0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 LOG LENGTH OF THE FISH Fig. 6s Length-weight relationship of male and Female of Rita rita of the river Yamuna. 25 (1985). The length weight curve of females lies above the length-weight curve of males upto the length of about 300 mm and beneath the length-weight curve of females in Kita rita» I'his point- of intersection approximately around 300 mm also represented the size of the fish at first maturity. ****** CHAPThK IV FCOD ANb Fi:-EbIMG HABITS 26 I:.TiNUi^UC1'I0I. ; Food is the nain source of energy which plays an importent role in the life of an organism. Food studies do at least in part determine population levels, rate of growth and condition of fishes. The cat-fishes are known to be highly predaceous and carnivorous in habit. The food and feeding habits of some fresh-rwater carnivorous fishes in various environments in India have been reported by some scientists (Alikunhi and Rao, 1947; Das and Moitra, 1955, 1956; David, 1963; Saigal, 1964; Uayyum and ^asim, 1964; Bhatt, 1970; Goel, 1978 and Abbas, 1983). Considerable work has also been done on the food and feeding habits of some fresh-water cat fish by few workers (Mojumder, 1969; Bhatt, 1970 and 1971; Mojumder and Dan, 1979; and Anwar, 1985). Khan (1934) and Das and Hoitra (1955) published brief notes on the food and feeding habits of Rita rita. However, little attention has been paia to determine the feeding habits of Rita rita in the large river systems. There fore, the present investigation has been undertaken on the food and feeding habits of the fish from the river Yamuna. 27 MATERIAL ANL h£.ThK'^^ s The food ana feeding habi-s of the fish were carried out during January to Decfber, 1986. The gut content analysis was based on the examination of 214 stomachs of the fish, collected frcT; Aligarh fish-market. The fish were dissected f rom t he ventral side and taken out the whole alimentary tracts arc presei-ved in 5% formalin to investigate the food intake of each fish. The total length of the alimentary tracts were measured from the oesophagus to the rectal opening in mir,. The total length of the fish was also r.easured before dissect ing the fish. The alimentary tract of each fish was kept in numbered tubes serially. The stomach contents of each fish was transfer red to petridish containing water. Each food item found in the stomach was listed and expressed as a percentage of the total food items of monthly sample. An arbitrary estimation of fullness of the con tents in the fish stomach was made by points as follows: Visual estimation of fullness Points Very full with food items 100 Full with food items ...... 80 3/4 full with food items 60 1/2 full food items 40 28 1/4 full fooQ items 20 Trace with food items 5 Empty stomach 0 Each category of fullness which was awarded points per stomach, was calculated by dividing the total number of stomach examined in each month. The food contents were analysed by occurrence, number and volume methods as described by Hynes (1950): (a) The occurrence methods? All food items present in each stomach were listed. The results were expressed as a percentage fre quency of occurence. (b) The number methods? The total number of individual by direct count in each food category were listed and expressed as a percentage of the total number of food found in all the fish examined. Some organisms (eg. insects and its lar vae and Crustacea like Daphnia ) were often small and found in large numbers. For quick assessment of the niomber of organisms, first volume was determined and then converted in numbers. (c) The volume methods: All the individuals of each category were collect- 2 9 ed from each stomach and theii volume ^ as determined by displacement of water in a burette. The total volume of the food taken each month was estims.ted. This gave the mean volume of individuals of the fooa category for each month. Therefore, the volume of each food item was estimatea by water displacement. RKbULTb AMD DIbCUbblQN: Food Composition^ Fig. 7 shows the annual food composition of the fish represented by the occurrence, number and volume methods. The food consisted of chiefly insect larvae (Aerial insect, Dipteran larvae, Coleoptera adult, Plecoptera nymphs, Ephemeroptera nymphs, Trichoptera larvae, Odonata nymphs and Hemipterans), which were a popular diet of the fish as its occurrence frequency was 57.6% of the total diet. Khan (1934) found that Rita rita fea mostly on insects, their larvae end prey fish. The other popular diet was mollusca mainly Lamelle-branchiates and prey-fish, as these were repre sented by 15.7% and 7.3% respectively by occurrence method. At times the fish were f ound feeding on crus tacean (mainly Daphnia). The occurrence of plant mater ial ana sand or mud in the stomachs may be because the fish may have ingested these items alongv.ith the bottom organism which fr^jm a popular diet of the fish. ANNUAL FOOD SPECTRUM OF Rita rita (Ham.) OCCURANCE NUMBER VOLUME g^^ AERIAL INSECTS I*,*| COLEOPTERA LARVAE AND ADULT • %*|ODONATA NYMPHS o 0_°o DIGESTED INSECT REMAIN APHIMEROPTERA NYMPHS ^^ SHRIMPS '^X- PLECOPTERA NYMPHS \':^-9*'\ DAPH NIA ^^HEMIPTERA ADULT H MOLLUSCA TRICHOPTERA LARVAE DIPTERALARVAE :-X-JPLANT Fig. 7 30 It li.ay be relevant re (joint out tht tfirtt rr,et.:.oah> do not give an iatntical iiictuife of the feeaing t^atits of the fish, hynes (1550) was also of the opinion that these methods were controversial as the occurrence method tends to over estimate the importance of small organisms or those occurring in low number. Graham and Jones (1962) said that the occurrence of a few small organisms in many stomachs could gain more points than a simila r or greater number of much larger organism, which though occurring in fewer stomachs, therefore, gaining fewer points from a greater portion of the diet. The number method takes no account of the size of the organism and therefore, over estimate the relative importance of the very small organisms especially Crus- taceous which were eaten in large numbers and under es timates the relative importance of large animals nemely prey-fish. On the contrary, the volume method may exaggerate the importance of large food items and under estimate the relative importance of very small organism which were eaten by the fish frequently. Graham and Jones (1962) said that the voliome method would appear to be the most satisfactory particularly when the adequate dietetic values of food species are known but it does not allow for differential rates of digestion (Pantelow et al., 1933; Hess and Rainwater, 193 9), Considering the food composition of Rita rita, it was decided to analyse the 31 food concents of the fish using all the three methods which showed the truest picture of the feeding habits of the fish. Seasonal variation in Food intake of the Fish: Fig. 8 shows the seasonal variation in food intake of the fish, which is based on the mean fullness index of all the stomachs for each month of the year. It is evident that the feeding intensity gradually in creases from December onwards and reaches ma^U-mum upto April. From May onwards there is a marked drop in the feeding activity, and it becomes minimum in July. This may be because of spawning season when the fish ceases to feed on organisms. After spawning there is a sudden increase in the feeding activity in August and subse quently, there is a gradual improvement in the feeding intensity during the Autumn as is expected after spawn ing. Insects: Fig. 9 shows the seasonal qualitative and quanti tative variation in the food intake of the fish. In sects, its larvae and nymphs were the most popular diet of the fish all round the year. Maximum intake of the insect larvae and nymphs was in the Autumn and spring as their percentage of the food frequency was 75% and 100 G 80 < z o 3 U. z < 20 -J I t_ M J J MONTHS Fig. 8: Monthly variation in fullness of stomach of Rita rita. SEASONAL FOOD SPECTRUM OF Rita nU ( Ham.) OCCURANCE NUMBER VOLUME 1.0 / INSECTS,ITSLARVAE AND NYMPHS [y*:?-^ CRUSTACEAN imi MOLLUSCA I I PREY-FISH 32 6 2% respectively. it is relevant to point out that there was a marked qualitative vcjriation in the intake of in sect, its larvae ana nymphs even with in each season. For example maximum Hemipterans were consumed in Septem ber while adult Coleopterans, Chironomid larvae consti tuted popular diet in October - November. It is evident from the bimonthly food spectrum of the fish that Chiro nomid larvae were eaten in maximum number in all the seasons. This may be because these larvae are available to the fish in the environment in* fe**€ cnvironniont in fair quantity. Therefore, the fish have an easy access to these organisms. The consvimption of Ephemeroptera nymphs, Ple- coptera nymphs and Odonata nymphs were of seasonal nature. Ephemeroptera nymphs were mostly eaten in the spring sea son and Plecoptera nymphs were consumed in the winter. Crustacean» Daphnia and Shrimps constitute the crustacean diet of the fish which have chiefly eaten in the winter as the occurrence frequency was found to be 30% of the total food. Large number of Daphnia have been consumed in November/December and January/February as shown in the food spectrum. Shrimps were chiefly consumed in July/August (see fig. 10) . BY MONTHLY FOOD COMPOSITION OFRita rita(Ham.) OCCURANCE NUMBER VOLUME 0-*0.8 s 23.3 16.6 70.0 ^^ AERIAL INSECT |*»*|COLEOPETRA LARVAE AND ADULT [TTTJODONATA NYMPHS [OQOIDIGESTED INSECT REMAIN EPHIMEROPTERA- ^?r SHRIMPS NYMPHS ^PLECOPTERA NYMPHS g^ DAPHNIA ^HEMIPTERA ADULT jjjJH ^0>->-USC A TRICOPTERA LARVAE | JFISH :: •••••rVl DIPTERANLARVAE [I-.-I-j PLANT Pig. 10 33 Mollusca: Molluscs were represented by Lamelle-branchiates which constituted a secondary diet of the fish. There Was a marked seasonal variation in the intake of the Lamellebranchiates. Maximum consumption of these food items was found to be in the spring and summer seasons. This indicated that the fish must be bottom dwelling. Preyfisht The fish were found to feed on prey-fish (fry and fingerlings of cat-fishes and carps) in all the seasons, however, the prey-fish consximption was more in the Autumn and winter than that of the Spring and Summer (fig. 9) . Total Food Intake In Relation To The Size of The Fishi Fig. 11 shows annual food composition (by occurr ence, number and volume) of Rita rita of the two size groups. The size groups of the fish were represented from 120 mm to 300 mm and 301-455 mm for smaller and larger fish respectively. Apparently there was no signi ficant variation in the consumption of insect and moll uscs by the small and large group of the fish, however, it was noticed that small sized fish consumed crustacean more than that of the consumption by larger fish, cont rary to this, larger fish ate prey-fish more than that of the consumption by smaller fish. Anwar (1985) while ANNUAL FOOD SPECTRUM OF Ritanta (Ham.) OF THE TWO SIZE GROUPS BY OCCURANCE BY NUMBER BY VOLUME SIZE RANGE SIZE RANGE SIZE RANGE 120 mm _ 300mm 120mm_300mm 120mm . 300mm SIZE RANGE SIZE RANGE SIZE RANGE 301 mm - ^55 mm 301 mm-455mm 3 01mm - ASSmm A |/;::-::::l INSECT MOLLUSCA •:i^:i CRUSTACEAN FISH Fig. 11 34 Etuaying on i^redation of some cat-fishefc tounc that large preaator tenc to consume prey-fish more than that the small sized prtGe^tor. Earlier ^llen (1941), Thomas (1962), ^iaitland (1965J stated in their findings that the bigger the size of fish, the bigger the food item taken. Uayyum anc ^^asim (1964) while studying the food of Ophicephalus punctatus found that there were differences in the food preferences of various size groups. It may be pointed out that no fish less than 122 mm were examined for the present investigation. Therefore, nothing could be said about the food of the Juveniles. It may be concluded that the food composi tion in relation to the size of Rita rita did not seem to alter much in adult fishes. These fishes ere known to inhabit themselves around the rocky areas of the river basin. Therefore, the fish appeared to have confined to the fauna of their close surroundings namely Insect larvae. Insect nymphs. Crustacean, l^amellebranchiates and prey-fish. ***** CHAPTER V RtPkODUCTIVE BIOLOGY 35 .f.eprociuctive oiology of fishes has been found to be useful tc fcirmulete manegement measures anc for evaluation of its fishery potentials. Earlieir attempts to investigate various aspects of the rep- roGuctive Liology of fresh-water fishes have been made bv some workers (Khan, 1924 and 1934; Palekar and Karandikar, 1952; Alikunhi, 1953; Karamchanaani and i-'Otwani/ 1955; Prebhu, 1956; Khanna, 1*957; Qagenal, 1957; Jhingran, 1961; Sathyanesan, 1962; gasim and uayyum, 1962 and 1963; David, 1963; SaigaL, 1964; Das, 1964; Frost and Kipling, 1967; Annigeri, 1967; Gupta, 1974; Mann, 1976; Verghese, 1976; Chaturvedi, 1976; bhatt et al. 1977; Kojximder, 1978; Bisht and Upadhayay, 1979; Kali-__ amurthy, 1981; Abbas, 1983 and Khumar, 1985). however, the breeding, maturity and fecundity of Kita rita have been reported by Karam- chandani ana ^.otwani (1955) and Sexena (1972). The present investigation deals vvith spawning cycle, maturity stages, developement of ova, seasonal chang es in Gonad condition and fecunaity of Rita rita from the river Yamuna. MATERIAL AND METHODS; The studies en the reproductive biology of Kita rita was based on a sample of 202 fish (Male ICO 36 and female 102) wnic:. v,t.re collecteo fror-- AliQ.-rl) fish market froiii ^Ri.-iary, 1986 to December, I9fa6. The total length anu weight of each fish v.ere re- corocG. The goneus of each fish were taken out carefully ana preserved in 5% formalin. The st,:ce of maturity of the c-riaa was calssified as reported by k^ayyum and ^asim vl964) for Cphiocephatus punc- tatus. Sex ratio of the fish in relation to season v^as determined. Seasonal changes in gonad condi tion and gonadosomstic index were determined as per centage of body weight of the fish. The ova-dier.eter of the mature female fish was meaiiured during the entire period of investiga tion. 10 ova from each region i.e. anterior, middle and posterior region of the ovary of an individual fish were taken. The diameter of ova was measured unoer microscope witr. an ocular micrometer. A mean of the ova diamter rreasurement considered as the dia meter of the ova in ^ach month. In this way a total of 3,000 ova of the fish, samples were examinee and their diameter were reesured. Fecundity of the fish was estimated by count ing the number of me-ure eggs. It was based on 18 mature female incivicuals in the month of May, June and July. Three sairples each of 1 g of ova from 37 anterior, miccjle ano |.)o£terior rt^cjion of the two lobes of the ovc-.ry v.ere oi tainec;. Tr^G eg^js were sjiread on a piece of filter paper tc allow to air ary. Tlie semi-dried eggs were counted with the help of hand lens. A mean of three counts was calculated and raised upto the total weight of the ovary of each fish. In this way the fecunaity of each rr,; ture fish was cal culated. Relationship of fecundity v;ith body length/ body weight and ovary weight of the f ish were calcu- latea and regression equation of various parameters were drived by least square method as mentioned below: F = a + bx V»here, F is the fecundity of the fish X is body measurerrient a 6. b are constants to be determined separately from the e.-.perical data with the help of following formulae: log F X ^(log Y)^ ""^Ilog Y x ^ilog F x log Log a N X XLddg F) - CElog Y) ^log F - U X log a Log b . log Y /'"*'^' " " ^ ^^i^ V\here: Y = boay measurement *• • >r. >4i K = number of fish 38 Coef f .iv-iL nt of cor r el,-t.i ; .n 'r' v,,-;- alr-o calculet.co as Ge>ne m e.'iiier chupt«:r. Table V shov.s monthly t,e>: ratio of 202 fish. Apparently th^e annual catches of the tv;o sexes showed that the nu;nl;er of females were more than the males, however, there vjas no distinct ratio pattern in the monthly distribution of the two sexes. In some months the nuT.ber of males v;as higher than the females. V.hile in other months, tlie females exceeoed the males. It is relevant to mention that ntimber of monthly san.ples was not sufficient to con clude any specific ratio pattern in t he tivc sexes. Saxena (1972) also found that the two sexes of Rita rita of the river Ganc:a were not present in the same proportion through out the year. SEASONAL ChAKGi.5 Ii:; GCl.'/OJ V.LIGhT: Fig. 12 shows monthly variation in the gonad weight as percentage of the body weight of the fish of both the sexes. T'r.e monthly gonado-soma tic varia tion in females v.as pronounced .rore tVian that of the male. The ovary weight started increasing from May TABLE - V SEX RATIO OF Rita rJta IN DIFFERENT MONTHS FOR THE YEAR 1986 MONTHS MALES FEMALES RATIO January 3 5 1:1.6 February 4 3 1:0.76 March 8 7 1:0.87 April 25 34 1:1.36 May 10 5 1:0.5 June 13 17 1:1.30 July 1 7 1:7 August 3 2 1:0.66 September 11 5 1:0.46 October 7 9 1:1.28 Noveniber 4 3 1:0.75 December 11 5 1:0.45 TOTAL 100 102 1:1.42 12 O • • MALE / \ O 0 FEMALE \ 10 7 K 1 \ ^ • ' ^ / \ i • / ^ u / < »- / \ I V •Z< 6 o •/) ' o o < o 4 o 2 ^'' / ^\_ 8.:^V r--f --^ "^^^k^^ 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ¥— * 1 , MONTHS Fig. 12: Seasonal variation in gonad weight as percentage of body weight of Rita rita of the river Yamuna. 39 onv.t-fras ana reacheo at it:; ljinhe.<.t peak in July. From August on\.aids there v.a£ a gradual aecline in the ovary weight of the fisb till September. Thereafter, the weight of ov<'irie£ remained almost constant till January. It v>'aE observed that the spawning season was restricteo from May to Septem ber. Saxena (1972) while calculating the gonado- somatic index of Rita rlta of the river Ganga said that the gonado-som. tic index is the indicative of the breeding season of the fish, he further said that the spawning season was found to commence from May to September with a peak in July and August. The present findings were in agreement with the find ings of Saxena (1972). The relative increment of gonad weight in males was found to be low. The testes of the fish did not show any significant change in weight bet ween October ana April, however, the weight of the testes increased gradually from I-lay onwarcs and high est peak was found in July. The post spawning sea son brings about a decline in the weight of testes in relation to its body weight as shown in fig./Z SPAWNING PERIODICITY: Study of measurements of the un-spawned eggs can determine the spawning periodicity. The 40 size of ova was found to be variable in an ovary of the fish. This condition was also recorded in some other cat-fishes by Saigal (1964), Saxena (1972), Kaliyarnurthy (1981) and Mojumder (1978). Saxena (1972) said that the fully matured eggs of Rita rita may be deposited or re leased in batches at irregular intervals during the spawn ing periods. The diameter grovjth and maturation of ova have been shown in fig. 13. The size of ova was more or less constant from October to March. The maturation of ova began to develope from March onwards and attained the size of 0,41 mm in April. In May the eggs got bigger in size attaining a diameter of 1.29 mm. However, some of the fish were found in ripening stage having 1.83 mm ova diamter in the same month. Thus it may be inferred that the spawning season started from May onwards. Further* it was found that the m^aximum ova diameter of 2.0 mm was available in June and July. The spent fish v/ere available in'the month of October and November. Thus, it was evident that the fish spawned in a period which was restricted from May to September. Khan (1934) and Das (1964) observ ed that the breeding season of Rita rita was restricted from June to July. Karamchandani and Motwani (1955) con cluded from the larvae and juveniles collected during July and August that the fish most probably bred in the river Ganga from i^^arch to August. Saxena (1972) pointed out that he did not observe the specimen of Rita rita with mature gonads earlier than May. The observations 2.5 MAXIMUM AVCRAGC I MINIMUM 2.0 e E a >— UJ < < Z < UJ 2 Fig. 13: Mean ova diameter of Rita rita for different months along with range in the diameter. 41 of Saxena (op. cit.) v;ere based on emperical ova data. Therefore, his findings could be considered valid. Th.ere v.as a considerable similarity v^itb the spevming periodi city between the Ganga fish and the Yamuna fish. Lut there was a minor variation in the peak spawning f>eriodi- city between the fishes of Ganga ano Yamuna. Yamuna fish showed peak spawning periodicity in July while the Gangas fish revealed peak spawning in August. ^asim and uayyum (1961) rightly said that in the plain, of Northern India, most fishes breed during monsoon v;hen seasonal temperature w remained fairly uniform. They further said that the peak spawning occurrs after the monsoon rains have properly set in. The spawning periodicity of the present Yamuna fish coincided with the onset of the monsoon season. FECUNDITY; The number of eggs produced by the fish is of considerable value in fish culture. The data pertaining to fecundity are also useful in determining the density cependent factor affecting population size (Simpson, 1951) i^ecent findings have indicated that cet~fishes being com paratively hardy can be cultured in ponds (iiamachar, 1976; Singh et al., 1979 and Singh et al., 1982) considering the above mentioned importance, the fecundity estimates of 18 ripe specimens were made by egg counts from May to September 1986. The observed fecundity of Rita rita of the size ranging from 266 mm to 455 mm varied from 5,304 42 to 79,79b. The relationship between the fecundity anc the total body length, body v^eight and gonad weight of the fish are as follov.sJ Fecundity and Total length; The nurri)er of egjs generally varied greatly among the fish of the came size. For example, a fish of 345 mm in length contained 25,598 eggs. The other fish of the same size had 27,044 eggs. Similarly., the differ ent fish individuals of 451 mm in size contained 58,767 eggs and 79,798 eggs. It v.as recorded that the variation in the number of eggs of large fish was more than that of the eggs of small individuals. It indicates that the fecundity in the fish varies considerably among indivi duals of the same size. This condition was also reported by a few scientists in some other fish species (Frost and Kipling/ 1967; Lcigenal and brown, 1968; house and Vvells, 1973; Mathur and xomsay, 1974; Emery and Brown, 1978 and Abbas, 1983) . The relationship between fecundity and total length of the fish v>as found to be linear as shown in fig. 14, The regression equation obtained for the two variables is as follows: Log F = 0.0068 + 1.663 log L 4.8 / / / / / / / 4.6 / >- "^ / <» / o / o z / / / 4-0 O / 1 1 I 1 1 1 1 1 . 1 . 2.0 2.2 2.4 2.6 2.8 3.0 3.2 3.4 LOG LENGTH l^ia. 141 Logarithmic relationship between the fecundity end the body length of Rita rita from river Yanune. 43 A high degree of positive correlationship was found between the logirithmically transformed variables with a coefficient of correlation r = 0,7804. Fecundity and Ovary weight: Fig. 16 shows a straight line relationship between the fecuncity and the ovary weight of the fish. It may be said that the fecundity is directly proportional to the ovary weight of the fish. The logarithmic regression equation of fecun dity (F) with ovary weight (Ow) has been calculated as follov;s: Log F = 0.0442 + 2.577 log OW (r =0.8317) Qasim and Qayyum (1963) said that if the body weight of the two individuals happens to be the same, the fish with havier gonads will produce greater number of eggs than the one with lighter gonads. Abbas (1983) dealt with the fecundity of the spiny eel and found that the nvunber of eggs varied among the ovaries of the same v;eight. He further said that this vapiation may be due to the variation in ripe egg diameter in the individual fish. In the present investigation there was a high degree of correlation between the two variables. 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 LOG OVARY WEIGHT Fig. 15X Logarithmic relationship between the fecundity and the ovary weight of Rita rita of the river Yamuna. 44 Fecundity and body weight: The number of eggs generally increasea with increasing weight of the fish but the nunber of eggs also varied greatly among fishes of the same weight as reported by a few scientists (Lindroth, 1946; Carbine, 1944; Car- lander, 1950; Frost and Kipling, 1967 and Abbas, 1983) . Fig. 16 revealed that log fecundity against the log weight bear a straight line relationship. The regression equation was obtained with high degree of correlation. Log F = 0.1024 + 1.5438 log Vv (r=0.4454) It may be said that the fecundity of Rita rita increased at a rate of more than one and half times of its body weight. It may further be noted that since the body weight of the fish is more closely related with condition of the fish. Thus, the potential of the fish is directly related with the condition of the fish. Thus, the potential of the fish is directly related with the condition of the fish, ^iathematical relationship between the body weight and the fecundity of a species has been described as square of^ the body v;eight (Franz, 1910; Kisselevitch, 1923) and as the cube of the body weight (Simpson,^1951). The difference in rate of fecundity to the body weight of the fish appears to be governed . . . 5.5 / / / / / / / 5.0 4.5 > y -' ."^ oz o- / 3 {.'' ^ o 4.0 ^ / UJ o** '' u. / o O o -1 3.5 / / / / / / 3.0 •• 7.«; 1 I 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2.0 2.4 2.6 3.2 3.6 4.0 3.4 3.0 4.2 LOG WEIGHT Fig. 16J Logarithmic relationship between the fecundity and the body weight of Rita rita of the River Yamuna. 45 by the genetical make-up of the fish. However, it may be interesting to note that as Rita rita is a cat-fish feed ing on the fingerling of the carps, has a low fecundity than those of the'carps. It is a natural phenomenon to maintain an ecological balance so that predator and prey may co-exist. ******* SUMMARY 46 SUMMARY; 245 Kit The morphometric studies were made on the basis of the meesurenents of the total length, forked length, standard length, head length, distance bet ween the prctoral fin base and the depth of the body at caudal peduncle of the fish. These measurements were expressed as percent of the total length of the fish using the total length of each specimen as a basis of reference for all other measurements. A regression of body measurements against total length of the fish of both the sexes was established by least square method. It was found that the fish had a linear and isometric growth pattern through out its life. The fish also exhibited sexual dimorphism. The ace of the fish was determined by oper cular bones and subsequently the age readings were verified with the help of otoliths which, had clear annual marks. The age of the fish was determined by opercular bones and otoliths as opaque and trans- 47 lucent zones were clearly visible pcrtlculaily in otoliths. The tianslucent zone v.^as consiaereo to be an annual mark. Tlus, the age of the fisn v^as deter mined by counting the translucent zone on the oper cular bones and otoliths. The length attained by the fish at tfie time of formation of various annul! were back-calculatea from the opercular bone of each fish. There was a difference in the meen length for age between male and female. The absolute growth of the female was better than that of the male upto 3 years. From 4th year onwards the growth of male exceeded the growth of the female. The fall in the absolute growth of the female from 4th year onwards was related with spawning stress. The specific growth rate of the fish of both the sexes decreased with increasing age and size. The food composition of the fish was deter mined by the occurrence^ number and volume methods. The food consisted chiefly of insect, its larvae and nymphs (Dipteran larvae, Coleopteran adult, Plecop- teran nymphs, Ephemoreptera nymphs, Trichoptera larvae, Odonata nymphs and hemipterans), molluscs and prey- fish. At time the fish fed on crustaceans viz. Daph- nia and Shrimps. 48 The seasonal variation in food intake of the fish revealed that there was a marked qualitative and quantitative variation in the food intake of the fish. Maximum intake of the insect larvae and nymphs was in the autiomn and spring. There was also a signi ficant qualitative variation in the intake of insect, its larvae and nymphs, even with in each season. The feeding habit of the fish indicated thot the fish is a bottom dwelling. The food composition in relation, to *ie size of Rita rita did not seem to alter much in adult fish es. The studies on the sex-ratio, spawning cycle, maturity stages, ova developement, seasonal changes in gonad condition and fecundity were based on the observation of the gonads of 202 Rita rita from the river Yamuna. Apparently the annual catches of the two sexes showed that the number of female were more than male. However, there was no distinct ratio pattern in the monthly distribution of the two sex es. The monthly gonado-somatic variation in females « was more than that of the male. The seasonal chang es in gonad weight of the fish revealed that the spawning season was restricted from ^iay to tieptember. 49 The spawning periodicaly was also determined through the measurements of unspawned eggs. The aia- meter of ova was found to be variable in an ovary of the fish. The fish spawned in breeding season which was coincided with the onset of monsoon season. Further it was inferrea from the data that several groups of ova attained maturity and these were spawned out at different intervals of time during the breeding sea son. Therefore, it may be said that there were two or three successive spawning bursts during a parti cular spawning season. The fish generally were found to attain first maturity at a size of 300 mm. The observed fecundity of Rita rita rang ing from 266 mm to 455 mm varied from 5,304 to 79,798. The regression equations for different variables were * established. The relationships between the fecundity 'of the fish and its total body length, body weight and gonad weight were found to be linear. ****** ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 50 ACRNOVJLEDGEMENTS Heartily apprt-ciation is due to Profesi=or A.h. Siddiqi, Chairman, Department of zoology, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh for providing adequate research facilities. I am grateful to him particu larly for the favour of the purchase of the fish samples for the research, I am indebted to Dr. N. shahid Siddiqui, who has supervised this research project. It is due to his constant encouragement, inhesitant help and efforts that the work could be completed. I am very much thank ful to Dr. Faroogh Khvimar, Dr. Shakil Anwar and Dr. M, Abbas, who always helped me in various ways. I should also express my thanks to my col leases Mr. M. Iqbal Khan, Hr. Sudhir Singh, Mr. Bachan Ali Khan, Mr. Mohd. Shamim and Kiss Zeeba hakim for their sincere co-operation. My thanks are due to my friends Mr. M,A. Nasir, MiEs Razia Begum and Miss Zehra Rahena, who ex tended help in various ways. Special appreciation is due to Mr. A.K. Chesti, Dr. N. Ibomcha Singh and Mr. N. Tombi Singh, who always 51 inspired me to undertake higher studies. I am also thankful to Mr, Azad Samdani, who typed this thesis with great care. 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(1979). Assessment of seed resources and ob servations on culture of iMystus seenqhala (Sykes) in ages in river Ganga. In: sympo- rium on inland Aquaculture organised by Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute, Barrack- pore, India. Abstract, 139, Singh, H.R.; Nauriyal, B.P. and Dobriyal, A.K, (l982)• Fecundity of hill stream minor carp Puntius chilinodes (Hcclelland) from Garhwal Himalya, Proc. Indian Acad. Sci. 91 (5): 478-491. Sinha, V.R.P. and Jones, J.W. (1967). On the age and growth of the freshwater eel (Anquilla anquilla) J, zool. Lond. 153: 99-117. Tariq, H.; Khan, A.A. and Chatterjee, A, (1977), Sex ual dimorphism in the morphometric characters ot a carp., Labeo calbasu (Ham,) J, Zool, Res, 1 (2): 90-92. Thomas, J,D, (1962). The food and growth of the brown trout (Salmo trutta L.) and its feeding rela tionship with the salmon parr (Salmo salar L.) and the ell (Anguilla anquilla L.) in the river Teifi, West Wales, J. Anim. Ecol. 3^* 175-205, Tondon, K,K, (1962). Biology and Fishery of Chooparal Selaroldes leptolepsis (c. & v.). Indian J. Fish. 8» 127-144, Varghese, T.J. (1976). The fecundity of Coiles ram- carati (Hamilton Buch). Proc. Indian Acad. Sci. B 83: 47-54. Visisht, H.s. (1960). Food and feeding habits of the comnerclal fishes of the Punjab, Res. Bull* Pxinjab University. j^« 65-72. * Original not consulted. APPENDIX TABLE -III MEAN BACK CALrCULATKD TOTAL LENGTH AT THE END QF EACH YEAR OF LIFE OF (O^ Rita rita ALONG WITH STANDARD DEVIATION (S.D.) Age Lenght (mm) at end of year of Life I II III IV V 1 141.4 2 149.9 197.5 3 148.8 19y.2 244.7 4 153.2 206.2 259.2 300.8, 5 151.2 203.6 257.3 ' 290.4 » 341.5 MEAN 148.9 201.6 253.7 293.9 341,5 S.D. + 4.02 + 3.45 + 6.43 + 5.84 + 6.45 • + J in ri o • • OJ vo CM r- a\ 00 en m ro + 1 Ui X o eH^ Q 3 vo rH 00 t^ zW CD • • • in «-i CO O • ro z rn t-i in CO as fO ro ro ro EH < ro H (0 < 4J • •H Q CM X M • > Q> CM CO in vo < CO