Study of ova diameter, fecundity and gonadosomatic index of Schizothorax esocinus from Kashmir valley

Investigations on reproductive biology of fishes are crucial for their effective conservation and management. The study investigated some reproductive characters of Schizothorax esocinus, which is an indigenous snow trout of Kashmir. Results were arrived at by studying thirty samples, in which 17 were males and 13 were females, collected from commercial catches of Manasbal Lake. Ova diameter ranged from 0.384-2.02 mm with majority of the eggs falling in the length class of 0.59-0.68 mm. The absolute fecundity ranged from 4,402 to 23,946 and it showed highest correlation to total ovary length (R² = 0.561) compared to other physical parameters like total length (R² = 0.1705), body weight (R² = 0.262) and gonad weight (R² = 0.008). GSI (Mean±SE) values were recorded at 1.969±0.62% for males and at 1.947±0.90% for females.