Fishery and biology of cutlass fishes from Indian seas with special reference to the largehead hairtail Trichiurus lepturus Linnaeus, 1758 - A review

Fishery and biology of cutlass fishes from Indian seas

Abstract

Cutlass fishes of the family Trichiuridae form an important group in the commercial fishery in India, contributing >7% to the pelagic marine fish landings of the country during 2018-19. The largehead hairtail Trichiurus lepturus Linnaeus, 1758 forms a significant component of marine fish landings in India and several studies have reported its length-weight relationship, growth patterns, sex ratio, population parameters and stock status. Age and growth of T. lepturus were reported by the authors mostly using inverse interpolation of von Bertalanffy growth equation and ageing using hard parts is desirable to validate these observations. The present review highlights the importance of applying uniform methodologies for creating fisheries biology databases and timely publication of stock assessment results. Focussed utilisation of fisheries biology databases of commercially important fishery resources, including cutlass fishes using meta-analyses to validate and base fisheries management decisions should be considered.

Keywords: Age and growth, Condition factor, Length-weight relationship, Population parameters, Ribbonfishes, Stock assessment, Trichiuridae