IJAR - Indian Journal of Applied Research

SWAPNALI B. LAD; SURESH M. KUMBAR; ABHIJIT B. GHADAGE

Volume : IV, Issue : VI, June - 2014

Comparison of Otolith, Scale and Vertebrae for Age Estimation in Freshwater Exotic Fish Oreochromis mossambicus

Swapnali B. Lad, Suresh M. Kumbar, Abhijit B. Ghadage

Abstract :

Otolith, scale and verteae sections of freshwater exotic fish O. mossambicus (N = 133) were compared to ascertain the best aging material. Different body sized fishes revealed the presence of 1 – 7 growth marks. Agreement between otolith and scale ages was 96.96% and otolith and verteae ages were 88.36% in 33 fishes used for comparative studies. Verteae ring counts (VRC) were under estimated the age in (13.6%) older individuals compared to otolith and scale ring counts (SRC). The results revealed that otoliths and scales are reliable calcified materials for estimating age compared to verteae in O. mossambicus. There was a highly positive correlation between body length (BL) and body weight (BW). Further, otoliths ring count (ORC), otoliths weight (OW) and otoliths diameter (OD) showed positive correlation with BL and BW. This fish may live for a maximum of 7 years in the natural population.