Age, growth and maturity of the Indian Shad, Tenualosa ilisha through otolith examination from different habitats in Bangladesh

Uddin Ahmed, Md. Borhan; Ahammad, A. K. Shakur; Shahjahan, Md.; Rabbi, Md. Fazla; Ashraful Alam, Mohammad; Sakib, Md. Nazmus; Bashar, Md. Abul; Rahman, Md. Ataur; Hossain, Md. Yeamin; Mahmud, Yahia

doi:10.21608/ejabf.2020.119368

Age, growth and maturity of the Indian Shad, Tenualosa ilisha through otolith examination from different habitats in Bangladesh

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

10.21608/ejabf.2020.119368

Abstract

Studies on the age, growth and maturity of Tenualosa ilisha are plagued by a lack of essential information; addressing this data gap is the aim of the present study. Six diverse habitats of hilsa across Bangladesh were chosen as sites for sample collection. For age determinations, lunar rings in the otolith of hilsa were used. The length and weight of each fish were recorded prior to otolith extraction. Extracted otoliths were polished to enable the visualization and quantification of rings. Except for the Kali River and Gaglajur Haor, age of the fish correlated strongly with both their length and weight (r > 0.95; p < /em> < 0.05). Again, except for those from the Kali River and Gaglajur Haor, all of the samples exhibited positive allometric growth patterns (b > 3) with the fish from the Tetulia River being the most positive (b = 3.48). The growth of T. ilisha in the Bangladesh was described as L_t = 48.02 [1-exp{-1.01(t-0.046)}] and growth performance was 3.04. The estimated L_m for T. ilisha was 26.04 (~ 26.00) (95% CL= 19.87-33.84) cm TL based on the maximum length-based model and it was confirmed by gonad histology. These results would be effective for the sustainable management of hilsa fishery in Bangladesh and neighboring countries.