Morphometry, length-weight relationship and relative condition factor of marine catfish,Osteogeneiosusmilitaris (Linn., 1758) of Mumbai waters

Abstract

The meristic and morphometric characters as well as the length-weight\rrelationship and condition factor of the marine cat fish, Osteogeneiosus militaris (Linn.,1758)\roff Mumbai waters was investigated. Based on the meristic characters, the fin formula can be\rwritten as; DI, 7, PI, 10-11, V6, A18-22, C17-19. The morphometric characters of indicated high degree\rof correlation among the compared characters. The length-weight relationship of the species\ris given as, W = 0.000006 L3.05 for females, W = 0.000008 L3.01 for males and W = 0.000007 L3.03\rfor pooled sexes which implies that the species found off Mumbai waters has isometric\rgrowth. The co-efficient of co-rrelation between length and weight was found to be very high\r(r = 0.981, 0.962 and 0.977) for females, males and sexes pooled, respectively. The condition\rfactor was found to be higher for females than those of the males. This indicates that females\rare in better condition compared to males. The seasonal variation observed in the condition\rfactor for both the sexes could be related to reproductive cycle and feeding.