Length and weight relationship, Feeding habits of Argyrops spinifer (Forsskl, 1775) and Sparidentex hasta (Valenciennes, 1830)

Abstract: Objective: It is recognized by the FAO that management of sh resources in the western Indian Ocean is complicated by the lack of data on the basic biology and landing statistics for exploited sh species. The species of family sparidae are the important component of commercial fish landing in Pakistan. More than nine species of family sparidae occurr in Pakistani water. The biological data of these fishes is scarce from Pakistan. In the present proposal two highly commercial sparid species that are kingsoldier bream, Argyrops spinifer (Forsskl 1775), and silvery black porgy or blue finned seabream Sparidentex hasta (Valenciennes, 1830) are selected for investigation of biological characteristics. in the Arabian Sea with a view to contributing towards the development of management plans for its sustainable exploitation. As a prelude to any fisheries modeling, it is important to determine the biological characteristics of the stock in question to determine parameters such as size age structure of the stock, lengthweight relations, its pattern of growth (i.e. von Bertalany growth parameters) and sizeage at first maturity ( King, 2007). In this research proposal length and weight relationship and feeding habits of the two species (Argyrops spinifer and Sparidentex hasta) are going to be analyzed. An empirical relationship like LWR is a very important information in studying the natural history of fishes. For instance, LWR predicts the weight from length in yield assessments (Pauly 1993) and can also be indicative of the condition factor, i.e., the general well-being of fish populations. An interesting possibility, not yet explored to our knowledge, is to conduct comparisons of the parameters a and b in space (latitudinal and depth gradients) and time (period/season of the year) for both fish assemblages and for individual species. And I believe this is going to make us learn the relation to the general metabolism of species and communities. Anderson and Neumann (1996) observed that length and weight data provide statistics that are cornerstones in the foundation of fishery research and management. LeCren (1951) indicated that the analysis of weightlength data is usually directed toward two objectives: (1) mathematically describing the relationship between weight and length, primarily so one can be predicted from

the other, and (2) measuring the variation from the expected weight for length of individual fish as indications of fatness, well-being, or gonad development. In general, it is observed that fish weight is directly related to fish length. Studying the trophic relationships between organisms and their prey is an important approach to understanding aquatic ecosystems (Persson et al. 1992, Vander Zanden et al. 1999a). Study of the diet based upon analysis of stomach contents is now standard practice in fish ecology but surprisingly little literature exists upon the range of methods which may be employed. Many of the methods have been determined by Hynes (1950), Pillay (1952) and Langler (1956). However, since then more refined techniques of dietary analysis have come into operation. Windell (1968) and Windell & Bowen (1978) Two main categories of study exist. Firstly, those which examine the diet of a fish population with a view to assessing the species' nutritional standing in the context of the fish community. Such a study may consider seasonal variation in the diet and/or dietary comparison either between different sub-groups of the same species, e.g. year classes or different species living in the same or comparable habitats. In both instances the aim may be to discern whether there is competition for food. (E. J. Hyslop, 1980). This category also includes studies which monitor the feeding intensity of a fish population throughout the day to discern the die1 rhythm or feeding periodicity (e.g. Staples, 1975) The second category is concerned with studies which attempt to estimate the total amount of food consumed by a fish population (e.g. Allen, 1951). This may involve calculation of daily ration or energy budget, based upon field (Staples, 1975), or laboratory determinations (Gerking, 1972; Morgan, 1974; Elliott, 1976), or both (Cameron et al., 1973; Swenson & Smith, 1973). Such studies are largely beyond the scope of this review and the reader is referred to Beamish et al. (1975), Elliott & Persson (1978) and Windell (1978) for up-to-date discussions of the various approaches employed. Introduction: The family Sparidae, commonly known as seabreams, inhabit both tropical and temperate coastal waters. Whilst large adults tend to be solitary and occur in deeper water, the smaller species and young form aggregations and are often found in estuaries (Randall et al., 1997, Sommer et al., 1996).

The king soldier bream, Argyrops spinifer (Forsskl, 1775) is widespread in the Indo-West Pacific, where adults occur mostly between 30100 m of depth, over a range of bottom types (Randall, 1995, Sommer et al., 1996) it also occurs at the depth of 3 m (Al Abdessalaam, 1995; Randall, 1995). It is a large sparid sh that has a wide distribution from southern Africa eastward to northern Australia including the western Indian Ocean and the Indo-west Pacic (Randall, 1995, Sommer et al., 1996). It is distributed throughout the Western Indian Ocean extending eastward to the Indo-Malayan archipelago and northern Australia. Most seabreams are excellent food sh and are of notable importance to both commercial and recreational sheries throughout their range (Smale and Buxton, 1985; Sommer et al., 1996). It is a relatively large species attaining a maximum size of 70 cm total length (Randall, 1995, Al-Mamry et al. 2009) and age of approximately 25 years (Al-Mamry et al. 2009) and is caught mainly with bottom trawls, handlines and traps (Sommer et al., 1996). A. spinifer is a relatively large sparid; it is characterized by a long life span and low growth rate (Ben Meriem et al. 2004, Al-Mamry et al. 2009. Many species of the family have been shown to be hermaphroditic, some have both male and female gonads developing simultaneously (Smale, 1988) whilst others change sex from male to female (protandrous) or from female to male (protogynous) (Buxton and Garratt, 1990; Randall, 1995, Grandcourt et al 2004, McIlwain et al. 2006. The species spawns each year between October and December and the size at first maturity is around 37 cm total lengths (Ben Meriem et al. 2004, Al-Mamry et al. 2009). The diet consists of nekton, molluscs and other benthic invertebrates (Salini et al., 1994). depth feeding on benthic invertebrates, especially molluscs and crabs (Al Abdessalaam, 1995; Randall, 1995). The silvery black porgy or blue finned sea bream Sparidentex hasta (Valenciennes, 1830) commonly known as dandya occurs in habitats varying from shallow coastal waters to deep water. The fish feeds mostly on invertebrates and crustaceans (Bauchot and Smith 1984; Kuronuma and Abe 1986; Al-Abdessalaam 1995). The fish are protandrous hermaphrodites, that is, they possess both female and male gonadal tissue and mature first as males, then become females as they get older (Parvez and Ahmed 2000). They are highly prized in the region. Its area of distribution includes the western Indian Ocean, the Persian Gulf, and the coasts of India. It is a demersal fish found in brackish and marine waters in tropical areas, from shallow to moderate depths. It is a carnivorous and feeds on a variety of fish and invertebrates. It is a protandrous hermaphrodite. All fish mature as males during the first or second year and then turn into females as they get older

(Lone et al. 2001). They have a clear spawning season that occurs from January to march (Yousif et al. 2003). Plan of work/ Methodology: This research is going to be of 1 year and is going to be performed in the research laboratory provided by the centre of excellence in marine biology length and weight analysis will be made by the regression analysis provided by LeCren (1951) and feeding habbits will be determined by some methods also specifically provided by Hynes (1950) which is regarded as the points method, the samples for the research purposes are going to be bought from West wharf Karachi.

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