A note on length-weight relationship and relative condition factor of freshwater fish species inhabiting Thamirabarani River, Eastern Slope of Western Ghats, Southern Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract

The length-weight relationship (LWR) and relative condition factor for the two freshwater fish species, malabar sprat, Ehirava fluviatilis and quoy’s garfish, Hyporhamphus quoyi were estimated from the potamon zone of Thamirabarani river, Eastern Slope of Western Ghats, Southern Tamil Nadu, India. Fish samples were caught fortnightly using various fishing gears viz., cast net and seine net between November 2020 and October 2021. The total length of the fish was measured to the nearest 0.1 cm and total weight to the nearest 0.001 g. The LWR and relative condition factor were calculated and the slope b value lies within the acceptable range of 2.5 – 4.0 for the two studied species. This study also reports a specimen with a maximum length of 5.37 cm (TL) for E. fluviatilis which is marginally higher compared to previously observed length of 5 cm in Fish Base and a new record of H. quoyi for the first time in Thamiraabrani River.