~ 2032 ~ Journal of Entomology and Zoology Studies 2017; 5(6): 2032-2035 E-ISSN: 2320-7078 P-ISSN: 2349-6800 JEZS 2017; 5(6): 2032-2035 © 2017 JEZS Received: 22-09-2017 Accepted: 25-10-2017 Maria Latif Assistant Director Fisheries, Fisheries Research & Training Institute, Manawan, Lahore, Department of Fisheries, Punjab, Pakistan Muhammad Zafar Ullah Director Fisheries, Fisheries Research & Training Institute, Manawan, Lahore, Department of Fisheries, Punjab, Pakistan Imtiaz Begum Minhas Director Fisheries Department of Fisheries, Punjab, Pakistan Samavia Latif M.Phil Student, College of Statistical and Actuarial Sciences, University of the Punjab, Quaid-E-Azam Campus, Lahore, Pakistan Correspondence Maria Latif Assistant Director Fisheries, Fisheries Research & Training Institute, Manawan, Lahore, Department of Fisheries, Punjab, Pakistan Morphometric study of Puntius sophore (Hamilton, 1822) with special reference to body length-weight from Chenab River, Punjab, Pakistan Maria Latif, Muhammad Zafar Ullah, Imtiaz Begum Minhas and Samavia Latif Abstract A total of 231 samples of Puntius sophore ranged 3.0-16cm total length with mean 7.54±1.77 and 0.4- 31g body weight with mean 7.14±5.03 from the downstream of Qadirabad barrage, Chenab River, Pakistan were analyzed to investigate some morphometric characters in relation to body length-weight of this fish. Standard length, fork length, head length, head width, body depth, body girth, pre-dorsal length, post-dorsal length and length of caudal peduncle are found to be highly correlated with increasing total length and body weight (r= 0.928; p˂0.01). The slope “b” in the length-weight relationship is 2.63 indicating negative allometric growth. This fish being small in size is heavily targeted by fishermen and local fisher community. This is the first report on any biological aspect of this potentially important small indigenous species from river Chenab. This data will be useful for researchers and fisheries policy makers for future management of this species. Keywords: Puntius sophore, length-weight relationship, Chenab, allometric growth Introduction Fishes are regarded as highly important both nutritionally and economically. Knowledge of quantitative aspects of fishes such as Length-weight relationships (LWRs) and length-length relationships (LLRs) are important tools for the fish stock assessment, knowing well- being/fitness of individuals, comparing life histories of separated populations of same fish species present in different regions and proper management of their populations. LWRs are often used for estimating the average weight of a fish from a given length group of that species by establishing a mathematical relationship between them [1] . For the comparative growth studies of a fish population LLRs are considered as highly important [2] . Pakistan is bestowed with diverse freshwater icthyofauna. Among cyprinids, Puntius sophore (Hamilton, 1822) locally known as ‘Chiddu’ is one of the most important small indigenous fish species (SIFS) found in almost all rivers, streams, ponds and lakes of Pakistan [3-8] . It is a shoaling fish and highly nutritious both in fresh and dried state [9] . Small indigenous fish species are a rich source of vitamin A and calcium in the diets of rural households of Bangladesh [10] . This fish is a popular food fish item and a major source of proteins and micronutrients in the diet of rural small scale farmer communities of Bangladesh [11-12] . Being small in size it is heavily targeted by fishermen communities who used it as bait for their traditional fishing gears. The population of P. sophore has been reported to seriously decline from various Indian water bodies including Western Ghats, Harike wetland, Gomti River mainly due to its over exploitation and thus categorized as lower risk to near threatened species [13-15] . Data on the biology of this fish is available from several studies [16-21] . Most of the data for this species are from Bangladeshi and Indian water bodies. However the data about the basic biological aspects of this species is scarce from Pakistan. Therefore, present study was carried out to assess morphometric relationships of various body parts to the total length and body weight of P. sophore. This data will be useful for fish farmers, researchers and fisheries personnel’s for the proper management and conservation of this species.