<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-weight: bold" lang="EN-US">Biometric analysis of oil sardine <i>Sardinella longiceps </i>Valenceinnes, 1847 (Clupeiformes: Clupeidae) along Ratnagiri coast of Maharashtra </span>

Abstract

Length-weight relationship, morphometric and meristic characters of oil sardine <i>Sardinella longiceps </i>Valenceinnes, 1847 from Ratnagiri waters off Maharashtra, India were investigated by studying 917 specimens (368 males, 404 females and 145 indeterminates). Fourteen morphometric characters studied exhibited high level of interdependence (r= 0.81 to 0.99). Based on the studies conducted on meristic characters, the fin formula of <i>S. longiceps </i>can be written as B_5-7 P_14-16

V_8-9 D_14-18 C_16-24 A_11-17. Length-weight relationship was established as W = 0.000066L^2.604 for males, W = 0.000056L^2.638for females and W = 0.000054L^2.645 for pooled data, indicating negative allometric growth in <i>S. longiceps</i>. Coefficient of correlation (r) for the length-weight relationship was estimated at 0.721, 0.739 and 0.740 for the males, females and pooled data respectively.