Morphometry and length-weight relationship of Otolithes cuvieri (Trewavas, 1974) from Ratnagiri waters, Maharashtra, north-west coast of India

Abstract

Morphometric characters, meristic counts and length-weight relationship of Otolithes cuvieri from Ratnagiri waters of Maharashtra along the north-west coast of India was studied from 788 specimens (376 males and 412 females) collected during the period from December 2009 to November 2011. The analysis of morphometric characters revealed that standard length has fastest growth rate when compared to total length while eye diameter has lowest growth rate when compared with head length. The regression equation for the length-weight relationship in males and females revealed no significant difference and a common regression equation is given by Log W = -5.31579 + 3.13609 Log L. The regression co-efficient departs significantly from 3 indicating a positive allometry.