Assessment of Sexual Maturity and Spawning Biology of Channa punctata (Bloch, 1793): Conservation and Reproduction

The study was conducted in the freshwater station of the Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute in Mymensingh between September 2021 and August 2022. Finding the sex ratio, sexual maturity, LWR, reproductive biology, fecundity, and histological examination of gonads of C. punctata were the main objectives of the present study. The correlation between length and weight was determined by analyzing the power function. Both sexes showed positive allometric growth and the correlation between length and weight was TW= 0.011TL3.09 for males and TW= 0.009TL3.11 for females. The mean condition factor for males was 1.09 (0.89 to 1.24), whereas the mean condition factor for females was 1.12 (0.95 to 1.25). In both cases, the condition factor was more than 1, indicating that the physical condition of both sexes was excellent. Among the 329 samples, 142 (43.16%) were male and 187 (56.84%) were female (male: female = 1: 1.32). The chi-square test showed a significant departure from the 1:1 ratio between the number of males and females within the sample months (df = 1, χ2= 0.01, p=0.05). When they reached first sexual maturity (L50), both sexes were of similar size, as evidenced by their lengths of 14.95 cm. The peak spawning season for both sexes was observed in June and July; however spawning season lasted from April to July. According to the study results, July was recorded the highest absolute fecundity (23609), while December recorded the lowest (1998).