Seasonal changes in ovarian maturation of an Asian Cat fish, Mystus vittatus (Bloch, 1797) in captivity

ABSTRACT

Mystus vittatus, an indigenous fish species of West-Bengal are economically important due to its delicious taste. The ovarian histo-morphology and its annual changes and the spawning periodicity of this catfish were studied collected monthly in one year period of November, 2012 to October, 2013. The fecundity, gonado-somatic index, different stages of ovarian development (nucleus changes, oocyte diameter and formation of yolk vesicles, yolk granules and lipid droplets through histological observation) of M. vittatus were also observed in this article. By gross morphology and its seasonal changes of ovary especially on the changes in cell structure of this species, five maturity stages were distinguished to categorize the developing ovary: immature, mature, early ripening, ripe and spent. Our investigation has revealed that gonado-somatic index (GSI) in M. vittatus began to increase in March and peaked in July then declined sharply in September-October. This cat fish   attained sexual maturity at 10-11 cm in length, 10-12 g in weight which was confirmed at the peaks of gonado-somatic index (GSI) and fecundity. The fecundity of Mystus vittatus has shown highly significant correlation with body length, body weight and ovary weight.

Keywords- Mystus vittatus, gonado-somatic index, fecundity.

REFERENCES

1. Alam, M. and Pathak, J.K. 2010.Assessment of Fecundity and gonado-somatic index of commercially important fish, Labeo rohita from Ramganga river,Int. J. Pharm. Bio.Sci.,1(3),1-6.
2. Arockiaraj, A.J., Haniffa, M.A., Seetharaman, S., and Singh, S. 2004. Cyclic Changes in gonadal maturation and histological observations of threatened freshwater catfish “Narikelu” Mystus monotonus (Jerdon, 1849). Acta Ichthyological Et Piscatoria, 34(2), 253-266.
3. Chakraborty, N.M., Chakrabarty, P.P. and Mondal S.C. 2007. On Breeding of Tangra (Mystus vitttatus) and production of its post larvae/fry. Fishing chimes, V. 27 (4) p.16-18.
4. De Vlaming, V.L.1972. The effects of temperature and photoperiod on reproductive cycling in the estuarine gobiid fish, Gillichthys miabilis. Fish. Bull. 73: 1137-52.
5. Gupta, S. and Banerjee, S. 2013. Fecundity of Mystus tangra (Ham. Buch., 1822), A freshwater catfish from West Bengal ,India. Ind. J. Appl. Res. 3(6):36-37.
6. Hoque, M.A., Khatun, M.R. and Hossain, M.A. 1993 Sexual maturity and fecundity of the freshwater catfish Mystus vittatus (Bloch): Univ. J. Zool. Rajshahi Univ.26:27-29.
7. Islam, S.S., Shah, M.S. and Rahi, M.H. 2011. Study of fecundity and induced breeding of Mystus vittatus. Banglaesh J. Zool.,39 (2);205-212.
8. Khan, H. 1935. Observations on the breeding habits of some fresh water fishes in the Punjab. J. Bombay nat. Hist . Soc . 29 (4):958-962.
9. Knuckey, I.A. and Sivakumaran, K.P.  2001. Reproductive Characteristics and per recruit analysis of blue warehon (Serioledla brama): Implication for the South East Fishery of Australia. Marine and Fresh Water Research.52, 575-587.
10. Lagler, K.F.1956. Enumeration of fish eggs in fresh water fishery biology. 2^nd edn. W.M. Brown company publisher. Dubugue: 271-274.
11. Londhe Sheetal D. and T. V. Sathe 2011. Fish faunal diversity and occurrence from lakes of Kolhapur district. Biolife, 3(2), pp 437-441. doi:10.17812/blj2015.32.11
12. Maddock, D.M. and Burton, M.P.M. 1999.Gross and histological observations of ovarian development and related condition changes in American Plaice, J. Fish Biol.,53;928-944.
13. Mukherjee, M., Praharaj, A. and Das, S. 2002. Conservation of endangered fish stocks through artificial propagation and larval rearing technique in West Bengal, India. Aquaculture Asia. Vol. VII (2 ): 8-11.
14. Parameswaran, S. and Murugesan, V. K. 1974. Observation on the hypophysation of muffelas (Ophiocephalidae). Hydrobiology. 50 : 81-87.
15. Paritha bhanu and M. Deepak 2015. The effect of Cadmium on antioxidant enzymes in the liver of fresh water fish Cyprius carpio (Linn). Biolife 2015; 3(1); 50-53.
16. Rao, T.A. and Sharma, S.V. 1984. Reproductive biology of Mystus vittatus (Bloch) (Bagridae:ySiluriformes)Afrom Gunter, Andhra Pradesh. Hydrobiologia, 119, 21-26. 
17. Rao, L.M., Reddy, K.S.and Hymavathy, V. 1999. Breeding biology and fecundity in Mystus species from Mehadrigedda stream of Vishakapatnam. Ecol. Env. and cvons., 5(1);25-28.
18. Rastogi, R.K. and Saxena, P.K. 1968. Annual changes in the ovarian activity of the cat fish, Mystus tengara (Ham.) (Teleostei). Japanese Journal of Ichthyology. 15(1): 28-38.
19. Roberts, R.J. 2004. Fish Pathology 3^rd edition, W.B. Saunders.
20. Saigal B.N. and Motwarin, M.P. 1982. Study on the fishery and biology of the commercial cat fishes of the ganga river system. 1. Early life history, bionomics and breeding of Mystus seenghala (Sykes.). Ind. J. Fish . 8 (1) :60-74.
21. Sarker, P. K., Pal, H. K., Rahman, M. M. and Rahman, M. M. 2002. Observation on the fecundity and gonado-somatic index of Mystus gulio in brachish water of Bangladesh. J. Biol. Sci. 2(4): 235-237.