Reproductive Biology of the White-spotted Rabbitfish, Siganus canaliculatus (Park, 1797) in the Arabian Sea coast of Oman

Abstract

The reproductive biology of the white-spotted rabbitfish, Siganus canaliculatus, was studied on the Arabian Sea coast of Oman between April 2005 and March 2007. The males matured (L50) at 22.6 cm and females attained maturity at 23.9 cm TL when both were close to one year of age. The population of S. canaliculatus spawned twice a year, with major activity during November-February and minor activity during June and July. A higher monthly GSI during November-January and a drop in monthly relative condition (Kn) from a peak during November to February coincided with the peak spawning months. Individual fish spawned more than once a year. Fecundity ranged from 242 x 103 to 608 x 103 eggs. The sex-ratio indicated a dominance of males during 2005-06 and females during 2006-07.

Keywords: Species, spawning season, length maturity, relative condition, gonado somatic index, fecundity, sex ratio.