A Quick View on Biology of Near Threatened Peacock Eel (<i>Macrognathus aculeatus</i>) in Khulna Region of Bangladesh

Abstract

The Peacock eel, Macrognathus aculeatus is a near threatened highly valuable small indigenous species in Bangladesh. It is not only toothsome nutritive table fish but also notable aquarium species but still rely on natural stock. Keeping in mind the paucity of information on the biology which is crucial to develop artificial propagation and culture technique of this species, the present research was performed as an attempt to contribute to the information on the taxonomy and other biological aspects of M. aculeatus. Total 50 samples were collected from Khulna region during April to May 2014 to assay. The taxonomical study revealed that the total length, standard length, head length, eye diameter, pre and post orbital length; length of dorsal, anal and caudal fin; length of upper and lower jaw; body depth and width, distance between dorsal fin to caudal fin ranged from 17.00-21.00, 15.00-19.00, 0. The mean values of hepatosomatic and alimentosomatic indices persuaded greater liver activity and feeding intensity in M. aculeatus. Moreover, stomach content depicted that the diet of peacock eel composed of small fish species, small prawn, prawn larvae, earthworm, water strider, insects pupae, Metaphire posthuma, Caenorhabditis, sand and mud for instance, which in brief expressed that M. aculeatus is omnivorous in its feeding habits. Indeed, this preliminary research outcome would be utile for the species identification, seed production, developing culture technologies as well as biodiversity conservation of this near threatened fish species.

Aspects of reproductive biology of the lesser spiny eel Macrognathus aculeatus (Bloch, 1786) from river Ganga, Uttar Pradesh, India

“…Similar observations were perceived by Nabi and Hossain (1996) in the spiny eel, M. aculeatus. Ali et al (2003) reported that the GSI in M. aculeatus ranged from 0.44±0.06 to 14.40±1.48 while Sultana et al (2017) reported the mean GSI of all samples of M. aculeatus as 12.50±1.38.…”

Truss network based morphometric and meristic variations among south-western populations of Macrognathus aculeatus in Bangladesh

“…In a distinct study, substantial variances were also found in DFR and AFR whereas insignificant results were created in remaining meristic characters of Mesopotamian Mastacembelus mastacembelus populations among three locations of the Karakay pool, the Tohma creek and the Tigris waterway (Çakmak and Alp, 2010). Moreover, researchers only assessed meristic counts and they outlined merely descriptive statistics of the Mastacemblidae family namely, (Sultana et al, 2017) in Macrognathus aculeatus, (Plamoottil and Abraham, 2015) in Macrognathusalbus, (Mahmud et al, 2015) and (Narejo et al, 2003) in Mastacembelus armatus. According to Waldman (2005) meristic parameters are worthwhile for delineating stock identification because they specify the initial development and growth of an organism.…”

Meristic and Morphometric Variations of Barred Spiny EEL Macrognathus pancalus Populations from Bangladeshi Freshwaters: An Insight Into Landmark-Based Truss Network System

“…Similar research was reported by Plamoottil and Abraham (2014) in Macrognathus albus where the meristic traits were as follows: 26-30 numbers for dorsal fin spines, 14-16 numbers for pectoral fin rays, 11 for caudal fin rays, 3 for anal fin spines. Parallel research was also conducted by Sultana et al (2017) on M. pancalus species resembling 19-39 numbers for dorsal fin spines, 11-18 numbers for caudal fin rays, 29-52 numbers for anal fin rays. Consistent results were also reported by Roberts (1980) on Macrognathus species of meristic characters of number of dorsal fin spines: 14-22 in M. aculeatus, 16-23 in M. aral and 13-19 in M. siamensis.…”