OTOLITH MORPHOMETRY-TOTAL FISH LENGTH RELATIONSHIP IN THE POPULATION OF Rasbora daniconius (HAMILTON, 1822) (CYPRINIDAE)

This study shows the relationship between otolith morphometry and total fish length of 70 Rasbora daniconius ( Hamilton,1822) (Cyprinidae) specimens from Ganga River near Meerut region, India. Total length and weight of fish specimen ranged between 2.6-7.3 cm and between 10-38g. The length, breadth and weight of otoliths of each specimen were measured which were 71-84mm, 44-56mm and 0.001-0.004g respectively. The relationship was analyzed by linear regression model show high correlation. We observed a strong relationship between otolith length and total fish length. There were no significant differences between left and right otolith of this species (t-test, p>0.05). Otolith morphometry of this species are thought to be useful for fish taxonomists, paleobiologists and researchers investigating the nutritional biology of a fish predator.