Diversity of reef associated fishes in hook and line fishery at Mandapam, Gulf of Mannar, south-east coast of India

Abstract

Reef associated fishes landed by hooks and lines at Mandapam landing centre in Ramanathapuram District, Tamil Nadu for a period of four years from October 2008 to May 2012 were studied based on fortnightly samplings. The hook and line fishing is seasonal in Gulf of Mannar and lasts for six months annually from October - November to April - May, as this area remains rough during the rest of the year. The average annual landing of fish during the study period was 171 t with a peak of 295 t in 2008-09 and showed a decline since then. A total of 32 species of reef associated fishes belonging to 14 families were landed. Among them, Sphyraena barracuda contributed the maximum with a share of 42% followed by Caranx heberi (15%). Family-wise landings indicated the dominance of Sphyraenidae (46%). The diversity index (H’) was the highest during 2008-09 and the evenness of distribution of individuals among different species did not show significant variation in different years. Funnel plots of average taxonomic distinctness (∆+ ) and variation in taxonomic distinctness (λ+ ) indicated that the values in most of the years are within the normal limits.

WITHDRAWN: Bamboo as Potential Substrate for Sea Cage Culture of Abalone Haliotis asinina

“…However, after 90 days in experiment 1, abalone juveniles with BS substrate showed a positive allometric growth pattern (b = 3.14), while abalone juveniles with PVC substrate continued to show isometric growth (b = 2.95) (Table 10). This isometric growth of abalone juveniles with PVC substrate (SL range = 22-38 mm, mean = 29.57 mm) is consistent with the study of Najmudeen (2015), which also reported isometric growth of abalone juveniles in the SL size range of 25-35 mm. Interestingly, in our study the abalone juveniles with BS substrate (SL range = 24-42 mm, mean = 32.06 mm) showed a positive allometric growth pattern.…”

Ichthyofaunal Diversity from Longline Catches in the Gulf of Mannar (GoM), Southeast Coast of India

“…Varghese, Ranjith, and Joshi (2017) reported a total of 98 species of reef fishes and reported that 69 species from bottom-set gillnet landings at Pamban from GoM. Thus, the number of species recorded was found to vary with type of gears and comparatively lower number of species was recorded in experimental longline landings during the present study, which is in agreement with the study conducted by Venkataramani ( 2011) and Varghese and Gandhi (2019). Among the seven orders reported in the present study, Perciformes order dominated with families such as Carangidae, Lethrinidae, Lutjanidae, Haemulidae, and Nemipteridae, which is in line with the recent study on check list of fishes of the GoM ecosystem, Tamil Nadu, India (Joshi et al, 2016).…”

“…There were several attempts made by different researchers to document the species diversity along GoM (Abraham, Joshi, and Sriramachandra Murty, 2011;Joshi et al, 2016;Joshi, Zacharia, and Kanthan, 2012;Manisseri et al, 2012;Varghese, 2011;Varghese et al, 2011;Zacharia, Joshi, and Kandan, 2011;Zacharia and Kannan, 2012). The present investigation was the first attempt to produce systematic list of fish caught using experimental longlines with different sizes and shapes of hooks along the GoM, India.…”

“…Abdussamad et al (2006) also reported Perciformes was the most dominant order however Carangidae was the most dominant family along GoM. Varghese et al (2011) reported a total of 183 species belonging to 51 families from GoM, among them Carangidae, Lutjanidae, and Serranidae were the dominated families with 19, 18, and 17 species, respectively.…”

“…The present investigation revealed presence of 37 species of fishes belonging to 15 genera, 10 families, and 7 orders have been recorded from the two experimental stations of GoM, Tamil Nadu. However, Varghese and Gandhi (2019) reported a total of 32 reef associated fish species belonging to 17 genera under 14 families were documented from the hook and line fishing gears of Mandapam, GoM. Santhoshkumar et al (2023) reported a higher diversity of 184 species belonging to 12 orders, 68 families, and 128 genera as bycatch landing from the trawlers operated off Thoothukudi Coast, Gulf of Mannar, India.…”