Population Status of Gold Fish Carassius auratus in Restored East Hammar Marsh, Southern Iraq

Abstract

The present study showed that Carassius auratus have a moderately long life span, with average of 6-7 years. The population was detected in the Hammar marsh throughout the year. The monthly catch was dominated by age group 3 and 4 years, which accounted for 60% of the catch. The seasonal pattern of the relative condition factor indicates that maximum value coincided with pre-spawning period. The growth rates of C. auratus in East Hammar differ from those expressed in other regions of its distribution. This may be related to either variations in the ecological conditions or to the applied method used in age estimation. Fully mature specimens (maturity stage 6 and 7) were defined as those that were ready to reproduce. They reached maturity in the second year of life .The monthly percentage of individuals in different maturity stages and direct observation of gonads of C. auratus population in Hammar Marsh revealed that spawning of this species took place in March to September suggesting that different individuals do not mature at the same time and that there is an extended spawning season. Moreover the presences of all maturity stages of C. auratus in the investigated area indicates that Hammar Marsh is the spawning ground of this species and that there is no evidence of spawning migration. Fecundity varied from a mean of 227,800 eggs per female at 110 mm in total length to a mean of 545916 eggs per female at 309mm. It was correlated significantly with age, fish length, body weight and gonad weight.

Some reproductive characters of the fantail goldfish Carassius auratus auratus females from rearing ponds in Basrah, Southern Iraq.

“…The GSI is widely used by the biologists to indicate the maturity and periodicity of spawning and predicting the breeding season of the fish (Alam and Pathak, 2010). The results demonstrated in figure (1) about variation of GSI values during study months are compatible with those reported by other authors (Ortega-Salas and Bustamente, 2006;Sasi, 2008;Alam and Pathak, 2010;Al-Noor, 2010).…”

“…Very little work has been done on the biology of this species including reproduction, in southern Iraq mostly on the feral strain (C. auratus gobelio) in natural waters (Saoud, 2006;Ali, 2008;Al-Shami, 2008;Al-Noor, 2010). Therefore, this study is aiming at assessing the fecundity, gonadosomatic index and egg size of the ornamental goldfish Carassius auratus auratus females from culture ponds in Basrah, southern Iraq.…”

Reproductive Periodicity, Fecundity and Sex Ratio of Goldfish Carassius auratus (Perciformes: Cyprinidae) Under Laboratory Condition

“…In our findings mature females were found from October to March. The mean GSI in our study for 12 months was from 2.43 (September) to 8.0 (December) while study of [2] found GSI from 1.02 (September) to 8.94 (February). We found from the result of reproductive periodicity that C. auratus is a single breeder and the breeding period is from November to March.…”

“…In this study, the occurrence of huge number of females of C. auratus was in December, January, February and November concludes that the spawning period is from November to March and is a single breeder. While working in East Hammar Marsh, Southern Iraq it has been found that fish in maturity stage began to appear in the catch during the period from December to July while no fish was caught during August to November [2]. According to him ripe fish were found during January to May and were most common in January (53.8%).…”

“…This fish species is benthopelagic, non-migratory and omnivorous living in fresh and brackish water [1]. C. auratus are known to have a moderately long life span, with average duration of 6-7 years [2].…”