Growth parameters and length-weight relationship of Heniochus acuminatus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Perciformes: Chaetodontidae) from the southeast coast of India

To study the growth parameters of long fin banner fish, Heniochus acuminatus, samples were monthly collected from the trawl catches of five major fish landing centers (Pondicherry, Cuddalore, Parangipettai, Karaikkal, and Nagapattinam) of the southeast coast of India during January to December 2015. A total of 475 longfin bannerfish (222 males and 253 females), ranging in size from 6.0-15.2cm for males and 5.6-15.7cm for females were collected. The total body weight of male and female were ranged from 11.06-25.34g and 10.90-27.15g, respectively. The b-value estimated for male (3.006) was greater than 3 (isometric) and for female (2.809) was less than 3 (slightly negative allometric). The correlation coefficient values (r) for male (0.984) and for female (0.995) was highly significant, with a high degree of the positive correlation between total body length and weight. The relative condition factor (Kn) values were found higher in females than males during various seasons. The asymptotic length Lα values obtained using various methods for females ranged from 16.8 to 18.3cm (TL) and similarly, for males, it ranged from 16.77 and 176.4cm (TL). Most appropriate values of growth rate (K) for males and females were 1.20 yr-1 and 1.80 yr-1, respectively. The estimated t0 for males and females were -0.191 and -0.166, respectively. The growth parameters obtained during the present study will be used for stock assessment of this species.