Distribution and Abundance of Finfish Eggs from Muthupettai, South East Coast of India

Abstract

Finfish eggs were collected monthly during January 2011 to December 2012 at Muthupettai coast. Finfish eggs abundance data is an important for patterns of distribution, an areas providing information for nursery ground and a range of adult and spawning trends. Environmental parameters such as rainfall, atmospheric temperature, water temperature, salinity, pH and dissolved oxygen were recorded and correlated with the distribution of fish eggs. The density of fin fish eggs at all stations showed a seasonal variation. The maximum number of eggs were recorded during post monsoon followed by pre monsoon, summer and monsoon seasons. The seasonal occurrence of finfish eggs did not follow a similar pattern during the two-year period of study. This might be due to the fluctuation in the environmental parameters. It is evident from the present study that the water temperature and salinity appear to play a significant role in determining the distribution of fin fish eggs in the study area.