Abstract
The present study describes the size at first sexual maturity, fecundity, lengthweight (LWRs) and lengthlength relationships (LLRs) of the pool barb, Puntius sophore, using data obtained from different geographical locations in Bangladesh. A total of 905 specimens were caught by traditional fishing gear from March 2010 to February 2011. Additionally, a total of 121 females were collected from a commercial catch of the Padma River during JuneJuly 2011 to estimate size at first maturity and to determine fecundity. Total length (TL), fork length (FL) and standard length (SL) were measured with digital slide calipers. Individual body weights (BW) were determined for all specimens, and gonad weights (GW) from 121 females were weighed to an accuracy of 0.001 g. The female gonadosomatic index (GSI) was calculated as [GSI (%) = (GW/BW) x 100]. Female size at first maturity was estimated using GSI and TL as indicators, and estimated as 5.00 cm TL in the Padma River. Specimens larger than 5.00 cm TL were used to determine fecundity. Mean total fecundity was 5300 +/- 2700, ranging from 1580 to 16590. A positive exponential correlation was recorded between total fecundity and total length (r2 = 0.421). Relative fecundity ranged from 466 to 4036 (mean 1100 +/- 580) in the Padma River. The LWR of pooled data for sexes combined was estimated as BW = 0.0155 TL2.98 as ancova revealed no significant differences in LWRs between rivers (P > 0.05). All LLRs were highly correlated (r2 > 0.983; P < 0.001), and ancova analyses further indicated that LLRs did not differ between rivers (P > 0.05). These results will help in further studies on the population assessment of the species.