Abstract
The sawtooth barracuda Sphyraena putnamae, widely distributed in the Indo-Pacific region, isone of the commercially important barracuda species exploited by trawls in the Indian EEZ.The present study examined 2,135 S. putnamae collected during 2014-2020 from differentfish landing centres along the Indian coast, to elucidate their reproductive and feedingbehaviour. The fork length of sampled females and males varied from 12.5 to 130.9 cm and16.5 to 90.0 cm respectively. Negative allometric growth was observed with a significantdifference (p<0.05) between the sexes. The observed sex ratio (Female:Male) was 1.23:1,indicating the dominance of females. Size at sexual maturity for females and males wereestimated at 55.3 and 45.4 cm fork length respectively. The higher proportion of spawningcapable individuals and higher gonadosomatic index (GSI) values in females observedduring March to May and November-December revealed the bimodal and protractedspawning nature of this species. Absolute fecundity increased with fork length and weightand varied from 70,080 to 10,18,068 oocytes with an average of 3,16,568 oocytes. Thestomach vacuity index of females and males was 49.09 and 47.92% respectively. Fifty-nineprey items were identified in the diet, with a predominance of fishes confirming S. putnamaehas a piscivorous feeding behaviour. Keywords:Management, Protracted spawners, Piscivore,Sawtooth barracuda, Sex ratio
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
