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Morphometrics,‘condition’and gonad development of the East African Sardinella gibbosa (Bleeker) and Sardinella albella (Valenciennes) *
Author(s) -
Okera W.
Publication year - 1974
Publication title -
journal of fish biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.672
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1095-8649
pISSN - 0022-1112
DOI - 10.1111/j.1095-8649.1974.tb05123.x
Subject(s) - sardinella , biology , morphometrics , fishery , gonad , development of the gonads , zoology , fish <actinopterygii> , sardine , anatomy
Sardinella gibbosa and Sardinella albella of Dar es Salaam coast were studied from January 1969 to March 1970. Measurements on the standard length, weight, body depth, length and width of the gonads were taken and qualitative assessments of fat coverage on the alimentary canal and maturation stages were made. New size‐groups of both the species appeared in the lamp‐fishery at c. 6 cm SL between October 1969 and February 1970 and the largest specimens caught were 14.1 and 12.9 cm SL for the first and second species respectively. Length‐weight equations of the two species show higher values of the regression coefficients for the females compared to the males. Fat content of fishes > 10 cm SL was high during March to May and low during August to December 1969. First maturation and spawning are probably attained at c . 10.5 and 10 cm SL in the first and second species respectively. Mature S. gibbosa occurred between August and November 1969 and probably the species has a single, annual spawning season of 3.4 months duration. Mature S. albella , 10.1–12.5 cm SL occurred between August 1969 and February 1970; mature females, 12.6–12.9 cm SL were encountered throughout the sampling period.