Journal of the Marine Biological Association of India

Size and weight relationships of the purpleback flying squid, Sthenoteuthis oualaniensis (Cephalopoda: Ommastrephidae), from Arabian Sea

Volume 65 Issue 2

N. Ragesh, K. K. Sajikumar, Geetha Sasikumar, T. V. Ambrose and K. S. Mohamed

10.6024/jmbai.2023.65.2.2358-10

Abstract

The size and weight relationships and morphometrics of 390 individuals of the purpleback flying squid, Sthenoteuthis oualaniensis, collected from the tropical Arabian Sea were studied. The lengthweight relationship was W = 0. 0320 DML3.0972 for females, W = 0.0318 DML3.1288 for males, and W = 0.0382 DML3.0395 when sexes were combined indicating an isometric growth pattern. Most of the morphometric characters showed a high degree of correlation among the compared characters. The relationships between ten morphometric characters against the dorsal mantle length of both the sexes were analysed and it indicated a very high degree of correlation in females compared to males. Females in the samples were twice the size of males, indicating sexual dimorphism in body size.

Keywords

Sthenoteuthis oualaniensis, length-weight relationship, Arabian Sea

Date : 15-11-2023