Population dynamics of Asian freshwater stinging catfish, Heteropneustes fossilis (bloch, 1794) from Laksham, Cumilla, Bangladesh

ABSTRACT

Population parameters of 1630 specimens of Heteropneustes fossilis were estimated from length-frequency data, collected from the fish market of Laksham, Cumilla from November, 2019 to October, 2020. For the purpose of estimating the parameters FAO-ICLARM Stock Assessment Tool (FiSAT II) software was used. Asymptotic length (L_∞) and growth coefficient (K) of this fish were estimated to be 28.88 cm and 0.70/year, respectively. Instantaneous rate of natural mortality (M), fishing mortality (F) and total mortality (Z) were estimated to be 1.43, 0.34 and 1.77, respectively. Recruitment pattern of the species was short with one peak, during May to August. The L₂₅, L₅₀ and L₇₅ were found to be 20.78 cm, 23.51 cm and 24.81 cm, respectively. Relative yield per recruit (Yʹ/R) and biomass per recruit (Bʹ/R) were 0.655 and 2.042, respectively. Value of exploitation (E) was found to be 0.19 which indicated that H. fossilis was not over fished (E > 0.50) in the study area. Maximum exploitation (E_max) value was 0.55. It indicates that more fish can be harvested.        .

Key words: Stinging catfish, population dynamics, VBGF, Bangladesh

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