International Journal of Bioassays 6.6 (2017) pp. 5407-5414 *Corresponding Author: Dr. K. Siva Prasad, Department of Zoology, P.B. Siddhartha College of Arts and Science, Vijayawada-520010, Andhra Pradesh, India. E-mail: katuruspanu@gmail.com DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.21746/ijbio.2017.06.005 pg. 5407 Research Article Seasonal variations in the biochemical composition of muscle and liver of marine fishes, Gazza achlamys and Ariomma indica from Visakhapatnam coast, South India. Siva Prasad K. 1 *, Prasad. N. V. 2 , Ch. Venkateswarlu 1 1 Department of Zoology, P.B. Siddhartha College of Arts and Science, Vijayawada-520010, Andhra Pradesh, India. 2 Division of Marine Biology, Department of Zoology, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, India. Received: 2017-05-22; Accepted: 2017-05-29 Available online: 1 st June 2017 Abstract: Seasonal variations in biochemical constituents were observed in muscle and liver of two marine fishes i.e. Gazza achlamys and Ariomma indica. The result indicated that muscle proteins are low in monsoon season in A. indica and in all seasons in G. achlamys. When compared to muscle, carbohydrate and lipids levels are very high in liver tissue of A. indica. Whereas there is a slight difference in G. achlamys. It is well understood from the current study that each habitat group of fishes has its own nutritional value parameters with sense to their different food preferences. This shows the mobilization of biochemical constituents in body tissues during different seasons. Based on current finding, it is concluded that G. achlamys and A. indica are the good source of protein, carbohydrates and lipids. Keywords: Marine fishes; Gazza achlamys; Ariomma indica; Biochemical constituents; Seasonal variation. Introduction Food is an important item next to air and water for the maintenance of the process of life on the earth. Fishes plays a major role in human nutrition. Biochemical constituents, particularly, proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, vitamins and minerals, make fish a nutritious food. The contribution of food fish to the total global animal protein in 1996 was 16.0, and 14.7% in 2005. In 2013, fish provided 3.1 billion people with almost 20% of their intake of animal protein. India is a major fish producing country. The two million Sq.km Indian EEZ abounds in rich marine flora and fauna. These include a wide variety of commercially important finfish, crustaceans and mollusks. Investigations regarding the biochemical composition of the fish and fish products have been initiated as early as 19 th century (Saha and Guha, 1940) 1 . After 19 th century several worldwide investigations were made on biochemical composition of fish. Noteworthy contributions are those of George et al., (1966) 2 on the function of lipid composition in animal body; Sivani (1994) 3 on the chemical composition in different species of estuarine fishes. Rao and Rao (2002) 4 studied the variations in biochemical composition of Glossogobius giuris from Gosthani estuary. Palace et al., (2003) 5 investigated the biochemical effects of dietary exposure to polybrominated diphenyl ethers in juvenile lake trout, Salvelinus namaych. Vaulyeva et al., (2004) 6 studied the lipid concentration and lipoprotein density of two-year old female rainbow trout at the spawning period. Zaboukas and Miliou (2006) 7 worked on biochemical composition of Atlantic bonito at different stages of maturity. Sobha et al., (2007) 8 investigated the effect of toxicant stress on fish biochemical concentration in exposed fish. Douglas et al., (2008) 9 observed the role of phospholipids in nutrition and metabolism of teleost fish. Many of the fishes exhibit considerable seasonal changes in their composition due to changes in the environmental conditions such as availability of nutrients, pollution of coastal seawaters and fluctuations in hydrographic and oceanographic features. Hence, continuous monitoring of changes in the biochemical composition of different species is required. In the present study, the major biopolymers i.e., proteins, carbohydrates and lipids in muscle tissue and liver tissues are studied with respect to different seasons in Gazza achlamys and Ariomma indica. Seasons like pre-monsoon includes the calendar months March, April, May and June. Monsoon season includes July, August, September and October and post-monsoon comprising of November, December, January and February months. Materials and Methods To find out the concentrations of proteins, carbohydrates and lipids in demersal fish, Gazza achlamys and Ariomma indica, samples were collected