Biological parameters and population dynamics of the bluline snapper, lutjanus coeruleolineatus (ruppell, 1838) from Dhofar Governorate, Sultanate of Oman

Abstract

The Blueline snapper Lutjanus coeruleolineatus is a significant commercial species harvested in the traditional fishery in the Sultanate of Oman. To date the biological characteristics of Blue line snapper have not been studied. Hence the current study is conducted to examine this fish such as length-weight relationships, condition factor, sex ratio, gonadosomatic index (GSI), size and age at 50% maturity, estimation of growth parameters by analysis otolith structure and the asymmetry characteristics by using otolith dimension. A random collection of the species (449 males and 529 females) were sampled monthly from the Dhofar Governorate off the coast of the Arabian Sea from February 2015 to March 2016. Females had mean TL 29.10 ± 0.21 cm larger than mean TL of male (mean TL= 27.5 ± 0.16 cm). Mean TW of females were 424.10 ± 10.90 g which were significantly heavier than the mean TW of males (mean TW= 336.1 ± 6.6 g). The length- weight relationships for male, female and combined sex were significantly correlated (P<0.05) and b values iii estimation for male and female were 2.9 and 3.1 respectively. The average monthly condition factor (Kn) values showed quite similar pattern for both sexes with a slightly higher values for females.