Length-weight relationship of four glassy perchlets from a tropical lake along the south-west coast of India

Abstract

Fishes of the family Ambassidae commonly known as glassy perchlets are represented by three genera in the Indian subcontinent: Ambassis, Chanda and Parambassis. Glassy perchlets are small to medium-sized semitransparent fishes commonly used for aquarium purposes. The present study provides the length-weight relationships (LWRs) of four glassy perchlet species collected from Vembanad lake, south-west coast of India. The species studied were Parambassis dayi (Bleeker, 1874), P. thomassi (Day, 1870), Ambassis ambassis (Lacepe’de, 1802) and A. gymnocephalus (Lacepe’de, 1802). The fish specimens were collected from the catches of gill nets and seine nets operated in the lake during the period 2015-2016. The b values in the LWRs varied from 2.75 to 3.27. No previous information is available on LWRs for these fish species from Vembanad Lake. The findings of the present study will be useful for the conservation and sustainable management of the glass fishes.