New fish species in Kerala waters

K.S. Sudhi.KOCHI,  
The Hindu, August 29, 2016

Fishery resources of Kerala have become richer with the addition of a new edible and economically important species.

A Working Group of the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI), Kochi, has recently identified the establishment of Indian Chub mackerel, a new fish species, in Kerala waters. The meat texture of the species is soft and tastes similar to that of Indian mackerel. The species was identified by a group led by E.M. Abdussamad of the Pelagic Fisheries Division of the Institute.

The species is genetically and morphologically distinct from the other members of the family, said A. Gopalakrishnan, Director of the Institute.

In Gujarat

The species was first caught from Gujarat waters in 2015. Later, its presence was reported from all along the entire southern coast of India, mostly Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu. Nearly 10 tonne of the species was caught from the Kerala coast alone during this period, said Subal Kumar Roul and Said Koya, researchers of the Institute.

Fishes of the species that were netted during the period were all adults in the size range of 27cm to 29 cm and at post-spawning phase. This indicated that spawning occurred prior to their entry in the Indian fishery, Dr. Abdussamad said.

Big catch

This year, young ones of the species in the size range between 8 cm and 18 cm were caught in July from along the Malabar and central Kerala coast in appreciable quantity. Big schools of the species also appeared along off Chellanam coast in August. The biological studies confirmed that all specimens caught were early juveniles with gonads at indeterminate stage, he said. The landing pattern of the fish indicated that the species had successfully established along the Indian coast and is emerging as a fishery, said the scientists of the Institute.