Journal of the Marine Biological Association of India

Prawn nursery ground investigation of the Feni River Estuary (Bangladesh) with reference to impacts of the irregation flood control project.

Volume 20 Issue 1&2

Chu-Fa-Tsai, MD. Ali Azam Khan and Gobina Chandra Halder

Abstract

Prawn samplings were conducted monthly from February 1978 to January 1979 in the Feni River Estuaiy located at the tip of the Bay of Bengal. The estuary was found to be utilized as nursery grounds by three species of marine prawns Parapenaeopsis sculptilis, Metapenaeus monoceros and Metapenaeus brevicornis, a species of estuarine prawn Palaemon styliferus and three species of freshwater prawns Macrobrachium mirabilis, Macrobrachium malcolmsoni and Macrobrachium dayams. Construction of the proposed cross dam and regulator in the lower reach of the estuary will change the present brackishwater estuary into a freshwater lake during the dry season. This change will destroy the nursery grounds of P. sculptilis and P. styliferus whose juveniles require brackish water for nursing during the dry season, but not the other two species of marine prawns M. monoceros and M. brevicornis which require waters of very low salinity for nursing their juveniles during the monsoon season.

Date : 31-12-1978