Keywords
Arothron
Canthigaster
Andaman
Reef fish
How to Cite
Abstract
Puffer fish belonging to the family tetraodontidae are usually distributed in the shallow waters. During investigation in stations viz. Marina Park, Chidiyatapu and Burmanullah, around Andaman, five species from genus Arothron and two from Canthigaster have been recorded and were mostly found to prefer coral reefs and rock crevices, with the exception of Arothron immaculatus, which was found to be present in the open waters and it confined to sandy bottom substrate with patches of sea grasses around them. These fishes were found to be most diverse and abundant in Chidiyatapu with the Margelef’s Richness Index of 2.49, Shannon-Wiener index of 1.05 and Pielou’s evenness index of 0.96. Biometric analysis results demonstrate that they have shown an isometric growth. The individuals collected were mostly lying in the length group of 120-160 mm. Gut content analysis of A. Immaculatus reveals that the fish feed mainly on molluscs and sea urchin and the other food items were shrimps, crabs, sponges, micro algae, foraminiferans etc. gastro-somatic index, hepato-somatic index and gonado-somatic indices were also calculated to throw light upon the feeding behavior and reproductive maturity of the fishes. Most of the individuals were found to be in the developing stage of maturity.
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