STUDY ON THE GROWTH PATTERNS OF HERRING SCAD, ALEPES VARI (CUVIER, 1833) COLLECTED FROM THE KARACHI COAST OF PAKISTAN

The current study explains the estimation of growth patterns of Herring scad Alepes vari (Cuvier, 1833) collected from Karachi coast, Pakistan. A total of 100 samples (44 males and 56 females) were caught from January to December 2019. The length-weight relationships (LWR) along with correlation coefficients (r) calculated for the combined sexes, males and females of Alepes vari had showed Log Wt = - 1.36 + 2.56 Log TL (r = 0.853), Log Wt = -1.84 + 2.90 Log TL (r = 0.965), and Log Wt = - 0.96 + 2.28 Log TL (r = 0.760). In this study, the general growth pattern for combined sexes, males, and females were observed only positive allometric type (A+) with b -values ranged between 2.28 to 2.90, respectively. The overall results revealed that all length-weight relationships were strongly correlated with ‘r’ values ranging from 0.760 to 0.965, which shows a good health condition of this species. Moreover, the average values of Relative condition factor (Kn) ranging from 0.8 to 1.0, which revealed that both abiotic and biotic factors of the Karachi coast were found in acceptable limits for this species. Thus, our present study will provide useful information on growth patterns and management of Alepes vari along the Karachi coast of Pakistan.