LENGTH-WEIGHT RELATIONSHIP OF EPINEPHELUS DIACANTHUS (FAMILY SERRANIDAE; SUB-FAMILY EPINEPHELINAE) COLLECTED FROM KARACHI FISH HARBOUR, PAKISTAN

Abstract

An investigation was conducted to find the length-weight relationship in Epinephelus diacanthus belonging to the family Serranidae along Pakistan coast. For this purpose, 201 fish samples of various lengths were collected bimonthly during the research period of October 2012 to April 2014 from Karachi fish harbour. The results revealed the positive allometric growth pattern for combined sexes, females and males of E. diacanthus because the values of regression coefficient were found to be greater than the ideal value of regression coefficient (i.e., b=3.0). The coefficient of correlation (r) was observed to be >0.90 which illustrates the strong correlation. The overall results for length-weight relationships of E. diacanthus for the combined sexes, females and males were found highly significant (p<0.05). Thus, present results proved that environmental conditions of Pakistan coast are appropriate for the growth of E. diacanthus.