Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-lj6df Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T09:46:31.806Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Population dynamics and production of the rocky stream-dwelling fish Garra ceylonensis (Cyprinidae) in Sri Lanka

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

K. H. G. M. De Silva
K. H. G. M. De Silva
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A population of Garra ceylonensis in a rocky, hill stream was studied by monthly sampling over a period of two years. The monthly population density, which varied from 1.28 to 4.16 m-2 with a mean of 2.37 m-2, was negatively correlated with the water speed. Asymptotic length (L∞) and the growth constant (K) were found to be 180.5 mm total length and 0.62. Maximum size observed was 174 mm, which is attained in about five years, but 99% of the population had a life expectancy of less than 3.4 years. The overall male to female ratio of the population was 0.58. The sex ratio was 1.0 in smaller size classes but decreased steadily with increasing size. There was a major spawning season following the main rainy period in contrast to the trend of most tropical freshwater fish species, which show enhanced breeding during the rainy season. The mean length and age at sexual maturity in females appear to be 109 mm and eighteen months. Fecundity varied between 740 and 4390. Average longevity and natural mortality were 4.8 years and 1.86. The mean biomass, average annual production and turnover ratio of the population were about 23.7 gm-2 wet weight, 41.2gm-2 and 1.7, respectively.

Keywords

biomassCyprinidaefishGarrapopulation ecologyproductionreproductive biologySri Lanka
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 7 , Issue 3 , August 1991 , pp. 289 - 303
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1991

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

LITERATURE CITED

Allen, K. R. 1950. The computation of production in fish populations. New Zealand Science Review 8:89.Google Scholar
Backiel, K. R. 1971. Production and food consumption of predatory fish in the Vistula River. Journal of Fish Biology 3:369–405.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Balon, E. K. 1981. Additions and amendments to the classification of reproductive styles in fishes. Environmental Biology of Fishes 6:377–389.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Balon, E. K. & Coche, A. G. 1974. Lake Kariba: A man-made tropical ecosystem in Central Africa. Monographie Biologiae Vol. 24. Junk Publishers, The Hague, 767 pp.Google Scholar
Benke, A. C. 1979. A modification of the Hynes method for estimating secondary productivity with particular significance for multivoltine populations. Limnology and Oceanography 24:168–171.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beverton, R. J. H. & Holt, S. J. 1957. On the dynamics of exploited fish populations. Fishery Investigation, London (Ser. 2) 19:1–533.Google Scholar
Bishop, J. E. 1973. Limnology of a small Malayan river Sungai Gombak. Monographie Biologiae, Vol. 22. Junk Publishers, The Hague. 485 pp.Google Scholar
Chapman, D. W. 1978a. Production. Pp. 202–217 in Bagenal, T. (ed.). Methods for assessment of fish production in fresh waters. IBP handbook No. 3, Blackwell, Oxford. 365 pp.Google Scholar
Chapman, D. W. 1978b. Production in fish populations. Pp. 5–25 in Gerking, S. D. (ed.). Ecology of freshwater fish populations. Blackwell, Oxford. 520 pp.Google Scholar
De Silva, S. S., Schut, J. & Kortmulder, K. 1985. Reproductive biology of six Barbus species indigenous to Sri Lanka. Environmental Biology of Fishes 12(3):201–218.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Geisler, R., Schmidt, G. W. & Sookvibul, S. 1979. Diversity and biomass of fishes in three typical streams of Thailand. Internationale Revue gesamten Hydrobiologie 64:673–697.Google Scholar
Hamilton, A. L. 1969. On estimating annual production. Limnology and Oceanography 14:771–782.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hart, R. C. 1981. Population dynamics and production of tropical freshwater shrimp Caridina nilotica (Decapoda: Atyidae) in the littoral of Lake Sibaya. Freshwater Biology 11:531–547.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hynes, H. B. N. & Coleman, M. J. 1968. A simple method of assessing the annual production of stream benthos. Limnology and Oceanography 13:569–573.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jhingram, V. G. & Pullin, R. S. V. 1988. A hatchery manual for the common, Chinese and Indian Major carps. International Centre for Living Aquatic Resource Management, Manila. 191 pp.Google Scholar
Kramer, D. L. 1978. Reproductive seasonality in the fishes of a tropical stream. Ecology 59:976–985.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lagler, F. E., Kapetsky, J. M. & Stewart, D. J. 1971. The fisheries of the Kafue Flats, Zambia, in relation to the Kafue Gorge Dam. FAO Technical Report FI:SF|ZAM|II. 161 pp.Google Scholar
Lawrence, J. M. 1956. Preliminary results on the use of potassium permanganate to counteract the effects of rotenone on fish. Progressive Fish Culturist 18:15–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lowe-McConnell, R. H. 1987. Ecological studies in tropical fish communities. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 381 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Naiman, R. J. 1976. Productivity of a herbivorous pupfish (Cyprinodon nevadensis) in a warm water desert stream. Journal of Fish Biology, 9:125–137.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nikolsky, G. V. 1963. The Ecology of fishes. (Translated from Russian) Academic Press, London. 352 pp.Google Scholar
Pauly, D. 1980. On the interrelationships between natural mortality, growth parameters and mean environmental temperature in 175 fish stocks. Journal of Conservation CIEM 38(3): 175–192.Google Scholar
Pauly, D. 1983. Some simple methods for the assessment of tropical fish stocks. FAO Fisheries Technical Paper 234. 52 pp.Google Scholar
Pauly, D. 1987. A review of the ELEFAN system for analysis of length-frequency data in fish and aquatic invertebrates. Pp. 7–34 in Pauly, D. & Morgan, G. R. (eds). Length-based methods in fisheries research. ICLARM, Manila. 468 pp.Google Scholar
Ricker, W. E. 1946. Production and utilization of fish populations. Ecological Monographs 16:373–391.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rigler, F. H. & Downing, J. A. 1984. The calculation of secondary productivity. Pp. 19–58 in Downing, J. A. & Riglcr, F. H. (eds). A manual on methods for the assessment of the secondary productivoity in fresh waters. 2nd edition. Blackwell, Oxford. 501 pp.Google Scholar
Strahler, A. N. 1957. Quantitative analysis of watershed geomorphology. Transactions of the American Geophysical Union. 38:913–920.Google Scholar
Waters, T. F. 1969. The turnover ratio in production energy of freshwater invertebrates. American Naturalist 103:173–183.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Watson, D. J. & Balon, E. K. 1984a. Ecomorphological analysis of fish taxocenes in rainforest streams of northern Borneo. Journal of Fish Biology 25:371–384.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Watson, D. J. & Balon, E. K. 1984b. Structure and production of fish communities in tropical rainforest streams of northern Borneo. Canadian Journal of Zoology 62:627–640.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Welcomme, R. L. 1985. River fisheries. FAO Fisheries Technical Paper 262. 330 pp.Google Scholar
Willoughby, N. C. & Tweddle, D. 1977. The ecology of the commercially important species in the Shire valley fishery, Southern Malawi. CIFA Technical Paper 5:137–152.Google Scholar