Age composition, growth, and reproductive biology of yellow catfish {Peltobagrus fulvidraco, Bagridae) in Ce Lake of Hubei Province, Central China

摘要

This study presents fundamental information on the reproductive biology, size and age composition, and growth of yellow catfish, Peltobagrus fulvidraco. Sampling was carried out monthly from Ce Lake in Hubei province from January 2004 and December 2004. Overall female/male (F/M) sex ratio was 1.08, not significantly different from expected 1.0 ratio. But sex ratio (F/M) of the spawning group was 1.14:1 with skewness towards females (p<0.05). The smallest sexually mature male and female massed 20.51 and 16.93 g, and measured 100.1 and 94.3 mm in total length, respectively. Reproductive period for this species is from April to August when GSI is considerably higher than the rest months (p<0.05). The highest GSI values were measured from May to July for both sexes and this period was presumably the peak spawn. First maturation occurred at age 1~+ for both sexes. Fish of age 1~+ and 2~+ comprised the greatest portion of spawners. The absolute fecundity (AF) of P. fulvidraco ranged from 657 to 11,696 eggs per fish, with mean AF value of 3,570 +- 122 (S.D.) eggs per fish, varying considerably at given length, weight and age. The fecundity relative to total length (FIL) fluctuated from 58 to 680 eggs/mm, with a mean value of 246 +- 34 (SD) eggs/mm,and fecundity relative to total weight (FIW) varied from 29-133 eggs/g, with a mean value of 67 +- 7 (SD) eggs/g. P. fulvidraco is a single spawner, with low fecundity compared with other Bagrid fish.