UNED Research Journal / Cuadernos de Investigación UNED ISSN: 1659-4266 [email protected] Universidad Estatal a Distancia Costa Rica Iqbal Mir, Javaid; Kumar Sarkar, Uttam; Prakash Gusain, Om; Kumar Dwivedi, Arvind Length-weight relationships of the Indian Major Carp, Labeo rohita (Cypriniformes: Cyprinidae) from six drainages of Ganga basin, India UNED Research Journal / Cuadernos de Investigación UNED, vol. 7, núm. 1, julio- diciembre, 2015, pp. 71-77 Universidad Estatal a Distancia San José, Costa Rica Available in: http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=515651508009 How to cite Complete issue Scientific Information System More information about this article Network of Scientific Journals from Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal Journal's homepage in redalyc.org Non-profit academic project, developed under the open access initiative Length-weight relationships of the Indian Major Carp, Labeo rohita (Cypriniformes: Cyprinidae) from six drainages of Ganga basin, India Javaid Iqbal Mir 1, Uttam Kumar Sarkar* 2, Om Prakash Gusain 1 & Arvind Kumar Dwivedi 2 1. Department of Zoology and Biotechnology, Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University, Srinagar Garhwal, Uttarakhand, India, r.javaid@ redimail.com, [email protected] 2. National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources, Canal Ring Road, Dilkusha, Lucknow- 226002, India, [email protected] * Correspondence Received 12-VI-2014 • Corrected 02-IX-2014 • Accepted 22-X-2014 ABSTRACT: The Indian Major Carp, Labeo rohita , is a geographically RESUMEN: La carpa mayor de la India, Labeo rohita es una especie de widespread and economically important food sh species in tropical distribución amplia y de importancia económica en las aguas dulces freshwater of India and adjacent countries. We studied the length- tropicales de India y países cercanos. El presente estudio trata las re- weight relationships of 1 033 specimens collected from the main chan- laciones talla-peso de 1 033 especímenes que fueron recolectados del nel of Ganga river and its ve major drainages from March 2009 to canal principal del río Ganges y sus cinco principales drenajes, durante July 2012. The length of males ranged from 16 to 92cm (females: 16 marzo 2009 y junio 2012. La longitud de los machos en diferentes ríos to 94cm). The growth is allometric positive (b >3) for males, females oscilaba entre 16 a 92cm y para las hembras entre 16 a 94cm. El cre- and pooled sexes. The coecient of determination (r 2) in males ranged cimiento de esta especie fue alométrico positivo (b >3) para machos, from 0,978 to 0,989 and for females from 0,958 to 0,985. Data from eld hembras y sexos combinados. Además, la gama de coeciente de de- populations are scarce and our results will be useful in the manage- terminación (r 2) en los hombres se registró desde 0,978 a 0,989 y para ment and conservation of L. rohita populations in its natural range. las mujeres que iba desde 0,958 a 0,985. Los datos generados en la pre- sente investigación serán útiles para el biólogo pesquero y agencias de Key words: LWR; Ganga basin; growth; wild; India. conservación en el manejo y conservación de las poblaciones silvestres de esta especie. Palabras clave: relación talla-peso; río Ganges; crecimiento; silvestre; India. The length-weight relationships (LWR) of shes are im- history and morphology of populations belonging to di- portant in sheries biology because they allow the esti- erent regions (Petrakis & Stergiou, 1995) and to study mation of the average weight of the sh of a given length ontogenetic allometric changes (Teixeira de Mello et al., group by establishing a mathematical relation between 2006). Furthermore the empirical relationship between the two (Mir, Mir, Patiyal & Kumar, 2014). Like any other the length and weight of the sh enhances the knowled- morphometric characters, the LWR can be used as a cha- ge of the natural history of commercially important sh racter for the dierentiation of taxonomic units and the species, thus making the conservation possible. relationship changes with the various developmental The Indian major carp, Labeo rohita (Hamilton, 1822), events in life such as metamorphosis, growth and on- commonly known as ‘Roho labeo’ is a geographically wi- set of maturity (Thomas et al., 2003). Besides this, the despread species in tropical freshwater of India and ad- LWR can also be used in setting yield equations for es- jacent countries with considerable variation in growth timating the number of sh landed and comparing the parameters (Chondar, 1999). The existence of interpopu- population in space and time (Beverton & Holt, 1957). lation dierences may indicate local adaptations, either LWR parameters ( a and b) are useful in sheries science through phenotypic plasticity or genetic variability (Mir, in many ways: to estimate weight of individual sh from Sarkar, Dwivedi, Gusain & Jena , 2014). Part of this inter- its length, to calculate condition indices, to compare life population variation results from dierences in local Cuadernos de Investigación UNED (ISSN: 1659-4266) Vol. 7(1): 71-77, Junio, 2015 71 environmental conditions (Begg, Cappo, Cameron, Boyle rohita is scanty from its wild habitat, especially from the & Sellin, 1998). This species thrives well in lakes, ponds, rivers under this study. For the successful management rivers (Talwar & Jhingran, 1991), and is reported from and conservation of wild populations of Roho labeo, it brackish-water system also (Riede, 2004). A column fe- is important to understand the relationship between eder herbivore showing rapid growth in terms of esh, length and weight of this sh species in its natural envi- Roho labeo is the most choice and prestigious culturable ronment. Therefore, aim of the present investigation was shery in India and constitutes a main capture shery of to provide information on this relationship in Roho labeo the Ganga, especially in the upper and lower stretches from its wild habitat across the Ganga basinin India. and tributaries. India is by far the largest producer of Roho labeo and the total global aquaculture production peaked in 2006, at nearly 16,5×10 5tonnes (FAO, 2006- MATERIAL & METHODS 2012).The major source of Roho labeo seed in India is contributed via the Ganga basin (Chondar, 1999). The Study area: The Ganges river basin is the fth largest basin in the world and is located 70-88°30’E and 22°-31N. sh grows to a maximum total length of 200cm (Frimodt, The length of main channel from the traditional source 1995). Recent studies have shown fall in the catches of of the Gangotri Glacier in India is 2 550Km. Annual volu- Roho labeo across Ganga basin in India (Mir, J. I., et al., me of water discharged by the Ganges is the fth highest 2014). To thwart this fall the generation of data on the in the world, with a mean discharge rate of 18,7x10 3m3- growth condition of this species is an important task. sec -1 (Welcomme, 1985). The main sources of water in the A number of reports are available on biological as- basin are direct seasonal rainfall, mainly from the south pects of L. rohita from dierent water bodies (Varghese, west and glacial and snowmelt during the summer 1973; Salam & Janjua, 1991; Sarkar, Negi & Deepak, 2006; (Chapman, 1995). The main channel of the Ganges beg- Mir, Sarkar, Dwivedi, Gusain & Jena, 2013).The LWR stu- ins at the conuence of Bhagirathi and Alaknanda, which dies on L. rohita are mostly restricted to cultured environ- descend from upper Himalayas to Devprayag (520m ments (Khan, 1972; Kamal, 1971; Sarkar, Medda, Ganguly above sea level) and receives a number of major tribu- & Basu, 1999). However, the information on LWR of L. taries ( Fig . 1). The northern tributaries principally include Yamunotri Gangotri Uttrakhand Haridwar Yamuna India river S Narora ha rd a Ganga riv river er Rajasthan Uttar Pradesh G ha gr a riv er Go mt Bihar i ri ver Betwa To Bay of Rajghat dam Bengal Ken Patan Jharkhand Sampling sites Ganga (Narora) Ghagra (Faizabad) Betwa (Bhojpur) Sharda (Palia) Ken (Patan) Gomti (Lucknow) Fig. 1. Collection sites of L. rohita from three Indian rivers (Source Khan et al. (2013) with slight modications). 72 Research Journal of the Costa Rican Distance Education University (ISSN: 1659-4266) Vol. 7(1): 71-77, Junio, 2015 Ghagra, Gomti, Buri Gandak and Kosi and southern tribu- these parameters of shes was established by using the taries include Yamuna (Ken, Betwa), Son, Chambal, Tons, parabolic equation by Froese (2006). Kalisindh, Sharda and Damodar. Most of these tributaries are controlled by irrigation barrages and there are two W = aLb major barrages across the main channel, one at Hardwar which abstracts much of the water at this point to irrigate where, W=weight of sh in grams, L=length of sh in the Doab region and one at Farakka which diverts water mm, a=constant and b=an exponential expressing rela- down to Calcutta (Mir et al., 2013). All of these structu- tionship between length-weight. res modify the ow of the river and may considerably b inuence sh distribution. Fish and sheries are both im- The relationship (W = aL ) when converted into portant resource and activity in their own right but also the logarithmic form gives a straight line relationship provide indicators of the overall impact of anthropoge- graphically. nic changes over the basin. Sample collection: A total of 1 033 specimens of L. Log W = Log a + b Log L rohita were collected during March 2009 to July 2012 from six rivers of the Ganga basin in India (Fig. 1). The si- where b represents the slope of the line, Log a is a cons- tes on selected rivers, GPS coordinates, land use pattern tant. Additionally, 95% condence limits of b and the co- of the selected sites on these rivers are shown in Table 1.