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Abstract

Gonadal maturation studies were carried out on one of the largest growing tropical mangrove clam species, Polymesoda erosa from Ratnagiri coast of Maharashtra.Gonadal maturation studies under laboratory conditions were also carried out to assess the effect of temperature and salinity on Gonad Index (GI) in two separate experiments each of 60 days duration.The optimum temperature and salinity observed for GI was 30°C and 25 ppt, respectively for both the sexes.Estimated fecundity of P. erosa within the range of 40 to 120 mm shell lengths was studied.It was observed that maximum numbers of matured oocytes were 1773893 whereas minimum number was 384227.