Studies on eco-biology, captive breeding and rearing of alligator pipefish, Syngnathoides biaculeatus (Bloch, 1785) A Thesis submitted to Goa University for the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Marine Sciences by Sushant V. Sanaye M. F. Sc Department of Marine Sciences Goa University, Taleigao Plateau-403 206, Goa September, 2017 Studies on eco-biology, captive breeding and rearing of alligator pipefish, Syngnathoides biaculeatus (Bloch, 1785) A Thesis submitted to Goa University for the award of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Marine Sciences by Sushant V. Sanaye M. F. Sc Research Guide Prof. C. U. Rivonker Department of Marine Sciences Co-Guide Dr. Z. A. Ansari Scientist CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography Dona-Paula, Goa, India 403004 Department of Marine Sciences Goa University, Taleigao Plateau-403 206, Goa September, 2017 Statement As required by the Univeristy ordinance OB-9A.9 (viii), I state that the present thesis entitled “ Studies on eco-biology, captive breeding and rearing of alligator pipefish, Syngnathoides biaculeatus (Bloch, 1785) ” is my original contribution and the same has not been submitted on any previous occasion. To the best of my knowledge the present study is the firstcomprehensive work of its kind from the work mentioned. The literature related to the problem investigated has been cited. Due acknowledgement have been made wherever facilities and suggestions have been availed of. Sushant V. Sanaye Certificate This is to certify that the thesis entitled “Studies on eco-biology, captive breeding and rearing of alligator pipefish, Syngnathoides biaculeatus (Bloch, 1785) ”, submitted by Mr. Sushant V. Sanaye for the award of Doctor of Philosophy in Marine Sciences is based on his original studies carried out by him under my supervision. The thesis or any part thereof has not been previously submitted for any degree or diploma in any Universities or Institutions. Prof. C. U. Rivonker, Research Guide Department of Marine Sciences, Goa University, Taleigao Plateau, 403206, Goa Certificate This is to certify that the thesis entitled “Studies on eco-biology, captive breeding and rearing of alligator pipefish, Syngnathoides biaculeatus (Bloch, 1785)”, submitted by Mr. Sushant V. Sanaye for the award of Doctor of Philosophy in Marine Sciences is based on his original studies carried out by him under my supervision. The thesis or any part thereof has not been previously submitted for any degree or diploma in any Universities or Institutions. Dr. Z.A. Ansari, Co-Guide CSIR- National Institute of Oceanography Dona Paula- 403004 Goa ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to express my sincere gratitude to my research guide Prof. C. U. Rivonker, Department of Marine Sciences and my co-guide Dr. Z. A. Ansari, Retired Scientist, CSIR- National Institute of Oceanography, Goa for their invaluable and scholarly guidance throughout the study period. My sincere indebtedness to project leader Mr. R.A. Sreepada, Senior Scientist, CSIR- NIO for giving me an opportunity to work with an extraordinary creature ‘Alligator pipefish’ and providing all the necessary facilities, support and encouragement during the tenure of the present study. I express my gratefulness to Dr. S.W.A. Naqvi and Dr. S.R. Shetye, former Directors, CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography for providing all the necessary facilities throughout the research work. I gratefully acknowledge the help offered by Dr. N. Ramaiah, Chief Scientist and Head, BOD, Dr. B.S. Ingole, Chief Scientist, Dr. S.G.P. Matondkar, Emeritus Scientist and Dr. Anil Chatterji, Emeritus scientist from CSIR-NIO. Further, I also thank Dr. A.B. Shanbhag and Dr. Dattesh Desai, VC nominee for their timely advice and then HOD’s (Prof. G. N. Nayak, Prof. H. B. Menon) for their administrative support. The generosity and assistance of HRM staff, Dr. R Mukhopadhyay and Mr. Krishna Kumar, for co- operating and guidingme in the official work and Dr. M.P. Tapaswi, Mr. S.R. Sahu, Mr. Madan, Mr. Prabhu for providing library facilities are gratefully acknowledged. I hold the deepest respect and wish to sincerely thank to my beloved teacher, Dr. H. Singh, Dr. M.S. Sawant, Dr. S.D. Naik, Dr. S.T. Indulkar, Dr. R. M. Tibile, Dr. D. Pathan, Dr. A. Pawase and Dr. Gajanan Ghode for creating interest in the field of research. I am also thankful to Librarian, Goa University, as well as to the librarians of CIFE, Mumbai, CMFRI, Cochin and ZSI, Kolkata for their kind co-operation during my reference collection. The permission granted by the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Chennai and Kerala and Chief Wildlife Warden, Ramanathapuram District, Tamil Nadu state, India and Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate change, Government of India for collection of alligator pipefishes is gratefully acknowledged. I am grateful to my colleagues and friends Dr. Hrishikesh Pawar, Late Mr. P.K. Kurle, Mr. Suresh Gawas, Mr. Carlos Almeida, Mr. Dinesh Shirvoikar and Mr. Ghansham Martines. I am also thankful to Sandip, Uddhav, Ravindra, Navnath, Dhiraj, Nivas and Shrikant for being with me during tough time at NIO. I also express my sincere thanks to Shahin, Tanu, Devika, Prachi and Amruta for always being supportive. It is my pleasure to express my regards tomy senior colleagues, Dr. Murugan, Dr. Sreekumar, Dr. Sabu and Dr. Shantanu Kulkarni, for giving me proper guidance. I also feel heart warming to express my feelings towards my College of Fisheries, Ratnagiri friends, Jagadish, Murari, Avinash, Harshad, Vinay, Jagdip, Sham, Pritam, Maruti, Girish, Pramod, Sagar, Nikhil, Archana, Prerana, Nilesh, Rupesh, Ganesh, Aashish, Manish, Harshala and Priyanka who intermingled with me easily and became my friends forever. Finally, I am indebted to the constant encouragement, love andaffection given by my Papa, Aai, Akka aatya and Kaka, Baba, Tai, Ashwini, Vishal, Vaidehi Vahini, Sarita and my little daughter Urvi for their loyal support and continuous motivation without which this doctoral study would have been extremely difficult to pursue. I am very much thankful to the Almighty for blessing me with such lovingand caring guide, teachers, friends, relatives and family. Thank You All …. (Sushant V. Sanaye) CONTENTS Page no. List of Tables i - iii List of Figures iv List of Plates v Chapter 1. General introduction 1.1. Background Information 1 - 2 1.2. Review of Literature 2 - 7 1.3. Objectives 8 Chapter 2. Materials and Methods 2.1. Survey strategy 9 2.2. Study locations 9 - 11 2.3. Alligator pipefish S. biaculeatus collection 11 -12 2.4. General methods 12 -29 Chapter 3. Distribution of alligator pipefish, Syngnathoides biaculeatus (Bloch, 1785) along the Indian coast 3.1. Introduction 30 - 31 3.2. Results 31 - 33 3.3. Discussion 33 - 39 Chapter 4. Biometric studies and length -weight relationship of alligator pipefish, Syngnathoides biaculeatus (Bloch, 1785) 4.1. Introduction 40 - 41 4.2. Results 41 - 43 4.3. Discussion 43 - 46 Chapter 5. Natural diet composition of alligator pipefish, Syngnathoides biaculeatus (Bloch, 1785) 5.1. Introduction 47 - 48 5.2. Results 48 - 49 5.3. Discussion 49 - 54 Chapter 6. Biochemical composition of alligator pipefish, Syngnathoides biaculeatus (Bloch, 1785) 6.1. Introduction 55 - 56 6.2. Results 56 - 60 6.3. Discussion 60 - 66 Chapter 7. Captive rearing trials and reproductive behavior of adult alligator pipefishes, Syngnathoides biaculeatus (Bloch, 1785) 7.1.Introduction 67 - 69 7.2. Results 69 - 74 7.3. Discussion 75 - 80 Chapter 8. Summary 81 - 82 Bibliography 83 - 106 Appendix LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1. Co-ordinates of places visited during field survey in Gujarat. Table 2.2. Co-ordinates of places visited during field survey in Maharashtra. Table 2.3. Co-ordinates of places visited during field survey in Goa. Table 2.4. Co-ordinates of places visited during field survey in Karnataka. Table 2.5. Co-ordinates of places visited during field survey in Kerala. Table 2.6. Co-ordinates of places visited during field survey in Tamil Nadu. Table 2.7. Co-ordinates of places visited during field survey in Andhra Pradesh. Table 2.8. Co-ordinates of places visited during field survey in Odisha. Table 2.9A. Morphometric measurements and their description used in the present study. Table 2.9B. Meristic counts and their description used in the present study. Table 2.10. Values of standards at different concentrations used in TPC and antioxidant activity. Table 2.11. Composition (%) of marine zooplankton collected for feeding juveniles of S. biaculeatus. Table 3.1. Comparison of morphometric measurements and meristic counts of S. biaculeatus collected from Goa (N = 1) and Palk Bay (N = 30). Table 4.1. Morphometric measurements of S. biaculeatus from Palk Bay, Tamil Nadu (N= 120). Table 4.2. Morphometric measurements of S. biaculeatus from Gulf of Mannar, Tamil Nadu (N= 97). Table 4.3. Morphometric measurements of S. biaculeatus collected from Kerala. Table 4.4. Morphometric measurements of S. biaculeatus collected from Goa. Table 4.5. Meristics counts of S. biaculeatus collected from Palk Bay, Tamil Nadu (N= 120). Table 4.6. Meristics counts of S. biaculeatus collected from Gulf of Mannar, Tamil Nadu (N= 97). Table 4.7 Meristics counts of S. biaculeatus (N = 18) collected from Kerala. Table 4.8. Meristics counts of S. biaculeatus (N = 1) collected from Goa. Table 4.9. Length-length relationships (LLR) of S. biaculeatus collected from Palk Bay, Tamil Nadu. Table 4.10. Length-length relationships (LLR) of S. biaculeatus collected from Gulf of Mannar, Tamil Nadu. Table 4.11. Length-length relationships (LLR) of S. biaculeatus collected from Kerala. Table 4.12. Length- weight relationships (LWR) of S. biaculeatus (N = 235) for Palk Bay, Gulf of Mannar and pooled for Indian coast. Table 4.13. Length-weight relationships (LWR) in pipefish species. Table 5.1. Prey individuals, frequency of occurring (% FO ) and percentage of prey (% N) in gut content of S.