Feeding dynamics and reproductive biology of Indian mackerel Rastrelliger kanagurta (Cuvier, 1816) off Ratnagiri coast, India

Somesh Jadhav; Santosh Yashvant Metar; Vivek Nirmale; Ravindra Pawar; Shardul Gangan; Kalainesan K

doi:10.21077/

Authors

Somesh Jadhav
Santosh Yashvant Metar
Vivek Nirmale
Ravindra Pawar
Shardul Gangan
Kalainesan K

https://doi.org/10.21077/

Keywords:

Indian mackerel, Feeding habit, reproductive biology

Abstract

The feeding dynamics and reproductive biology of the Indian mackerel Rastrelliger kanagurta (Cuvier, 1816), along the Ratnagiri Coast, Maharashtra, were investigated during September 2024 to May 2025. A total of 830 individuals ranging from 5.9 to 27.3 cm total length (TL) were examined. Gut content analysis showed phytoplankton as the dominant dietary component, occurring in 82.4% of non-empty stomachs and contributing 48.75% of the food items, followed by zooplankton, which occurred in 67.1% of non-empty stomachs and contributed 31.2%. The relative contribution of phytoplankton and zooplankton varied among months, indicating seasonal variation in feeding composition. The overall male to female sex ratio was 1:1.46, with significant female bias observed in March and May. The length at first sexual maturity (Lm₅₀) was estimated at 20 cm TL for females. Monthly variation in the occurrence of mature, ripe and spent ovaries indicated reproductive activity throughout the study period, with a pronounced reproductive peak during March–May. Fecundity ranged from 12,657 to 132,739 oocytes per female, with a mean of 52,765 ± 5,020.3 oocytes per female.

Keywords: Frequency of occurrence, Gut content analysis, Numerical method, Stomach contents

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

Santosh Yashvant Metar

Associate Professor, Fisheries Resource Management,
College of Fisheries, Shirgaon, Ratnagiri-415629

References

Abdussamad, E.M., Pillai, N.G.K., Mohamad Kasim, H. and Mohamed, O.M.M.J. (2010). Fishery, biology and population characteristics of the Indian mackerel, Rastrelliger kanagurta (Cuvier) exploited along the Tuticorin coast. Indian Journal of Fisheries, 57(1), pp. 17–21.

Arrafi, M., Azmi Ambak, M., Piah Rumeaida, M. and Muchlisin, Z.A. (2016). Biology of Indian mackerel, Rastrelliger kanagurta (Cuvier, 1817) in the western waters of Aceh. Iranian Journal of Fisheries Sciences, 15(3), pp. 957–972.

Asni, A. (2024). Biological aspects and population dynamics of Indian mackerel (Rastrelliger kanagurta) in Barru, Makassar Strait, Indonesia. Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 27(6), pp. 392–409.

Bal, D.V. and Rao, K.V. (1984). Marine fisheries of India. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Ltd.

Bandkar, D., Nirmale, V.H., Gurjar, U.R., Metar, S.Y., Pawar, R.A. and Chogale, N.D. (2022). Reproductive biology and feeding dynamics of the shrimp scad Alepes djedaba (Forsskål, 1775) from Ratnagiri, central west coast of India. Indian Journal of Fisheries, 69(1), pp. 37–44.

Bhendarkar, M.P., Naik, S.D., Sonone, A.D., Wankhade, H.P. and Joshi, H.D. (2013). Feeding biology of the Indian mackerel, Rastrelliger kanagurta (Cuvier, 1817) off Ratnagiri coast, Maharashtra, India. Journal of Ecology, Environment and Conservation, 20(3), pp. 1147–1152.

Bhendarkar, M.P., Sonone, A.D., Sonawane, S.S. and Gajbhiye, A.M. (2014). Length–weight relationship of Indian mackerel, Rastrelliger kanagurta (Cuvier, 1817) off southern coast of Maharashtra, India. Ecology, Environment and Conservation, 20(3), pp. 1055–1057.

Bintoro, G., Jauhari, A., Lelono, T.D. and Wardani, H.F. (2019). Biological aspect analysis of Indian mackerel (Rastrelliger kanagurta, Cuvier, 1816) caught by purse seine in Probolinggo waters, Madura Strait, East Java. In: IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, 546(2), 022003. IOP Publishing.

CMFRI, 2025. Annual Report of Central Marine Fisheries Research Station, Kochi, Keralam.

Biswas, S.P. (1993). Manual of methods in fish biology. Delhi: South Asian Publishers Pvt. Ltd., pp. 65–91.

Daghooghi, B., Kaymaram, F., Vosoughi, A., Valinassab, T. and Moradi, M. (2019). Evaluation of some feeding habits of Rastrelliger kanagurta (Cuvier, 1817) in the Persian Gulf (Hormozgan Province). Iranian Journal of Fisheries Sciences, 18(2), pp. 319–331.

Das, I., Hazra, S., Bhattacharya, S.B., Das, S. and Giri, S. (2016). Seasonal change in feeding habit, health status and reproductive biology of Indian mackerel (Rastrelliger kanagurta, Cuvier) in coastal waters of West Bengal. Indian Journal of Geo-Marine Science, 45(2), pp. 254–260.

Das, P., Mishra, R.K., Bhargava, A.K., Singh, P., Mishra, S., Sinha, M.K. and Mohanty, P.K. (2017). Abundance and distribution of Indian mackerel (Rastrelliger kanagurta) along the south-west coast of India in relation to hydro-biological changes. Thalassas, 33, pp. 159–171.

Desai, V.R. (1970). Studies on the fishery and biology of Tor tor (Hamilton, 1822) from river Narmada. Journal of the Inland Fisheries Society of India, 2(5), pp. 101–112.

FAO (2025). Rastrelliger kanagurta Cuvier, 1817. In: Fisheries and Aquaculture. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. [Cited 30 April 2025].

Ferdosh, S., Sarker, M.Z.I., Abd Rahman, N.N.N., Selamat, J., Karim, M.R., Razak, T.A. and Abd Kadir, M.O. (2012). Fish oil recovery from viscera of Indian mackerel (Rastrelliger kanagurta) by supercritical fluid: an optimization approach. Journal of the Chinese Chemical Society, 59(11), pp. 1421–1429.

Froese, R. and Pauly, D. (2025). FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. [Accessed 08 April 2025].

Ganga, U. (2010). Investigations on the biology of Indian mackerel Rastrelliger kanagurta (Cuvier) along the central Kerala coast with special reference to maturation, feeding and lipid dynamics. PhD thesis, Cochin University of Science and Technology, India, 159 pp.

Ghosh, S., Rao, M.V., Mahesh, V.U., Satish Kumar, M. and Rohit, P. (2016). Fishery, reproductive biology and stock status of the Indian mackerel Rastrelliger kanagurta (Cuvier, 1817) along the north-east coast of India. Indian Journal of Fisheries, 63(2), pp. 33–41.

Hakimelahi, M., Savari, A., Doustshenas, B., Ghodrati Shojaei, M. and Lewis, K.A. (2020). Food and feeding habits of Indian mackerel (Rastrelliger kanagurta) in the southern part of Qeshm Island, Persian Gulf. Iranian Journal of Fisheries Sciences, 19(2), pp. 563–573.

Hidayat, T., Fauzi, M., Widiyastuti, H., Zamroni, A., Mardlijah, S., Pane, A.R.P. and Jabbar, M.A. (2025). Population dynamics and spawning potential ratio of Indian mackerel Rastrelliger kanagurta (Cuvier, 1817) in the Aru Sea, Indonesia. Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Biology and Fisheries, 29(1).

Hulkoti, S.H., Shivaprakash, S.M., Anjanayappa, H.N., Somashekara, S.R., Benakappa, S., Naik, A.K. and Kumar, J. (2013). Breeding biology of Indian mackerel, Rastrelliger kanagurta (Cuvier) from Mangalore region. Environment and Ecology, 31(2A), pp. 683–688.

Hynes, H.B.N. (1950). The food of freshwater sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus and Pygosteus pungitius) with a review of methods used in studies of the food of fishes. Journal of Animal Ecology, 19, pp. 36–58.

IUCN (2024). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Available at: https://www.iucnredlist.org/

King, M. (1995). Fisheries biology, assessment and management. Oxford: Fishing News Books, p. 341.

Mascarenhas, S. and Desai, S.P. (2023). Food and feeding habits of the Indian mackerel (Rastrelliger kanagurta) from the coast of Goa. Uttar Pradesh Journal of Zoology, 44(3), pp. 75–83.

Matsui, T. (1967). Review of the mackerel genera Scomber and Rastrelliger with description of a new species of Rastrelliger. Copeia, pp. 71–83.

Nath, S.R., Beraki, T., Abraha, A., Abraham, K. and Berhane, Y. (2015). Gut content analysis of Indian mackerel (Rastrelliger kanagurta). Journal of Aquaculture and Marine Biology, 3(1), pp. 1–5.

Nelson, J.S. (1994). Fishes of the world. 3rd ed. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 600 pp.

Nurfaiqah, S., Kurniawan, F., Simanjuntak, C.P., Romdoni, T.A., Munandar, A., Lisamy, S.E. and Thanh, T.T. (2023). Reproductive biology of Indian mackerel Rastrelliger kanagurta (Cuvier, 1816) in southern waters of West Java (FMA 573). In: E3S Web of Conferences, 442, 01024. EDP Sciences.

Ogunola, O.S., Onada, O.A. and Falaye, A.E. (2018). Preliminary evaluation of growth pattern, condition factor and reproductive biology of African pike Hepsetus odoe (Bloch, 1794) in Lake Eleiyele, Nigeria. Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 21, 12.

Pawase, S.V., Nirmale, V.H., Bhosale, B.P., Pawar, R.A., Sawant, M.S. and Kende, D.R. (2020). Biology of Thryssa dussumieri (Valenciennes, 1848) from the coast of Ratnagiri, Maharashtra, India. Indian Journal of Geo-Marine Sciences, 49(1), pp. 87–94.

Purkayastha, A., Venu, S., Ramees, M.P.V., Kalita, S. and Kashyap, K. (2023). Biology of the Indian mackerel Rastrelliger kanagurta from South Andaman, India. Journal of Aquatic Biology and Fisheries, 11(2), pp. 56–61.

Rohit, P. and Gupta, C.A. (2004). Fishery, biology and stock of the Indian mackerel Rastrelliger kanagurta off Mangalore–Malpe, Karnataka, India. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of India, 46(2), pp. 185–191.

Shahina, S. and Shivakumar, H. (2023). Reproductive life of the Indian mackerel Rastrelliger kanagurta (Cuvier, 1817) along the Uttara Kannada coast, Karnataka, India. International Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Studies, 11(3), pp. 58–63.

Siddique, Z., Saddozai, S., Achakzai, W.M. and Khalid, S. (2024). Temporal variations in growth and reproductive dynamics of Rastrelliger kanagurta (Cuvier, 1816) from Gawadar, Balochistan. Research Square, pp. 1–16.

Sinha, R.K. (1995). Some aspects of biology of freshwater catfish Clarias batrachus (Linnaeus, 1758) of the Bombay region. M.Sc. Thesis, C.I.F.E. (Deemed University), Versova, Bombay, pp. 1–74.

Sivadas, M. and Bhaskaran, M.M. (2009). Stomach content analysis of Indian mackerel Rastrelliger kanagurta (Cuvier) from Calicut, Kerala. Indian Journal of Fisheries, 56(2), pp. 143–146.

Win, K.T., Maung, K.W., Than, S.M. and Tun, K.L. (2023). Reproductive biology of Indian mackerel Rastrelliger kanagurta (Cuvier, 1816) from coastal region of Myanmar. Journal of the Myanmar Academy of Arts and Science, 21(3), pp. 93–110.

Yohannan, T.M. and Nair, P.N. (2002). Resources of the Indian mackerel: characteristics, exploitation and future prospects. In: Management of Scombroid Fisheries, pp. 24–32.

Zaki, S., Jayabalan, N., Al-Kiyumi, F. and Al-Kharusi, L. (2016). Reproductive biology of Indian mackerel Rastrelliger kanagurta (Cuvier, 1816) from the Mahout coast, Sultanate of Oman. Indian Journal of Fisheries, 63(2), pp. 24–32.