Thread-fin breams is a Demersal fishes in the oceans. In INDIA its mainly available in KERALA COAST..

1. Demersal Fisheries Resources
Rahul Mondal
M.Sc.(I.F.)
2nd Semester
S.I.F.
CUSAT

2. Threadfin breams belongs to the family-Nemipteridae, order
Perciformes. They are also known as Whiptail breams and False
snappers.
It’ constitutes an important demersal finfish resource in the Indian
EEZ.
They are found in tropical waters of the INDIAN and WESTERN PACIFIC
WATER.
The threadfin breams, also called pink perch… Kilimeen in Malayalam,
Rani in Marathi, Madhumal meenu in Gujarati, Gulivindalu in
Telugu..

3. Phylum- Chordata
Subphylum- Vertebrata
Class- Actinopterygii
Order – Perciformes
Family- Nemipteridae

4. There are about sixty species in five genera:
Genus Nemipterus swainson(1839), Genus Parascolopsis
boulenger(1901), Genus Pentapodus gaimard(1824), Genus Scaevius
whitley, Genus Scolopsis cuvier (1814)
Here in INDIA the most dominant sp. are N. japonicus & N. mesoprion
 distinctive characteristic
 Caudal fin moderately forked, upper lobe slightly longer than lower
and produced into a short or moderately long filament.
 Three transverse scale rows on preopercle. Axillary scale present.
 A prominent red-suffused yellow blotch below origin of lateral line.
 Eleven to twelve pale golden-yellow stripes along body from behind
head to base of caudal fin.
 Pectoral fins very long, reaching to or just beyond level of origin of
anal fin.
Color: Upper body pinkish, silvery below.

5. Nemipterus japonicus

6. distinctive characteristic s<Nemipterus mesoprion>
•Lower edge of eye lies below a line drawn from tip of snout to upper
base of pectoral fin. Dorsal fin origin about 4-7 scale rows from an
imaginary line projected upwards from posterior edge of suborbital to
dorsal profile.
•Axillary scale present.
Color: Oblique golden yellow stripe from beneath eye to middle of
maxilla. Upper body pinkish, silvery white below.
This species closely resembles N. marginatus, but lacks the filamentous
extension to the upper lobe of the caudal fin; the posterior margin of the
suborbital is more or less straight, rather than evenly curved; and the
upper stripe on the body is not divided anteriorly.

7. Nemipterus mesoprion

9. Six species are known from the seas around INDIA. They are
Nemipterus japonicus (Japanese threadfin bream), N. mesoprion (Red-
filament threadfin bream), N. delagoae(Delagoan threadfin bream)
N.metopias ,N.nematophorus and N.tolu (Notched threadfin
bream).Out of these the first two species only contribute to the bulk
of the landings.
Threadfin bream is extensively found in tropical indo-pacific
regions between 34°N - 11°S latitudes and 31°E - 133°W longitudes.
They mainly occur in muddy sandy bottom. Occur mostly in shallow
water b/w 5 m -80 m depth(recorded upto 300 m depth). Nemipterus
japonicas occur up to 40 m depth , N. mesoprion occur beyond 40 m
depth.

10. Countries it occurs are- coastal waters of Eastern Africa north of Durban,
Seychelles, Madagascar, Mauritius, countries bordering red sea and
Persian gulf, Pakistan, India including Lakhshadweep Andaman &
Nicobarislands, SriLanka, Myanmar, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand,
Indonesia, Cambodia, NorthernAustralia, Polynesia, Micronesia,New
guinea, China, Taiwan, Philippines and Hawaiian islands.
In INDIA more or less well defined peaks along WEST COAST
(Gujarat, Maharashtra, Kerala)..

11. (www.aquamaps.org, version of Aug. 2010)

13. Most species are benthic(bottom feeding), carnivorous, eating small
fishes, cephalopods, crustaceans and polychaetes; however, a few
species eat plankton.
 N. japonicus prefered to feed large number of crustacean like penaeid
and non-penaeid shrimps.
 N. japonicus are asynchronouscyclic feeder ie. there is no
particular feeding time in a day for the population but individual
fishes may follow a cyclic pattern of active feeding followed by
cessation in feeding
 N. japonicus are opportunistic feeders.

15.  As we can see from length of the females are larger than the males.
Mature males commenced to appear at 140 mm length and the
mature females dominated up to the 260-269 mm with gradual increase
in the length of fish.
The length at first maturity is 14 c.m.
published weight: 596 g ; max. reported age: 8 years ;
Source:( www.fishbase.org)

16. REPRODUCTION

17. Reproduction of Nemipterus japonicus
Mode - Dioecism
Fertilization – External
Description of life cycle and mating behavior
Females predominate at larger sizes and males at
smaller sizes, due to faster growth rate in males .

19. The females out numbered males in the commercial
catches.
Percentage of males was low in most of the months except
in March, May, September, November and December.
The sex ratio was different from the expected ratio 1:1 in
almost all the months showing the predominance of females
in the catches

21. They are fractional spawners.
Releasing ripe eggs in 2 spawning periods
Spawning seasons varies from locality to locality and among different
sp.
Males dominated over females during Spawning
Sp. Name COAST MONTH
Japonicus N.W. COAST SEP-OCT
S.E. COAST NOV-APR
Mesoprion NOV-MAR
N. Delagoae & S.E. COAST FEB-MAR
tolu AUG-OCT
In the sea off Kerala, N.japonicus and N.mesoprion spawn during
monsoon and postmonsoon periods with peaks during monsoon in the former
and during postmonsoon in the latter species.

22. FECUNDITY

23. The annual fecundity (2 batches) ranges from 23,000
to 139,000 eggs
Fecundity of the fish increases with the increase in
the length and weight of the fish while ova per gram of
fish body weight has no relationship with the length of
the fish.

25.  Average Landing(‘000 tonnes)-Throughout the India
Avg. landing during 1961 - 2005
YEAR QUANTITY 200
180
1961- 1970 10.96 160
140
1971- 1980 29.53 120
100
1981- 1990 75.36 80
1991-2000 60
145.2 40
2001-2005 20
184
0
(India profile, CMFRI)

26.  State wise landings in year 2000
50,000
45,000
Avg. landings tons 40,000
GUJARAT 45,642 35,000
30,000
KERALA 37,437 25,000
20,000
KARNATAKA 19,100
15,000
MAHARASTRA 9,273 10,000
5,000
TAMIL NADU 3,284 0
ANDHRA P. 1,201
WEST BENGAL 69
*Status of exploited marine fishery
resource

27. COASTAL
Tons(‘000)
ZONE
NE 1.8
Avg. landing during 1961 - 2005
200
SE 20.4 150
100
50
SW 43.9 0
NW 33.9

29.  Basically Threadfin breams is a by-catch
species. So, it is caught with other species….
 The most popular fishing gears are
gillnet, longline, lift-net, push net and traps.
 In Kerala mainly- Bottom trawl net, Gill nets
are used

31. Marketed mainly fresh, but also
frozen, steamed, dried-salted, dry-
smoked, fermented or made into fish balls
and fish meal.

33. Fishing mortality rate of 2 major species are within reasonable
permissible level, although cod end and mesh size of present
trawl net can affect fish stock in long run.
Increase in cod end mesh sizes can input landing in long run.
Thread fin bream fishery contributed reasonably large catch in
west coast and trawl ban in this region during SW monsoon will
improve the stock
Use of non-selective gear in inshore water should be
discouraged.
Cont. Monitoring of exploitation, stock assessment, biological
assessment and sp composition should effectively practised for
sustainability the stock

34. Handbook Of Fisheries &
Aquaculture, I.C.A.R.,
p. 78
Joseph Mohan M. & Jayaprakash A.A., Status
Of Exploited Marin Fishery Resources Of
India, C.M.F.R.I
, India, p. 153
MANOJKUMAR P.P., Some aspects on the
biology of Nemipterus japonicus (Bloch) from
Veraval in Gujarat, Calicut Research Centre of Central
Marine Fisheries Research Institute,Calicut, India

35. SRIRAMACHANDRA MURTY, K . V. SOMASEKHARAN
NAIR, P. A. THOMAS, S. LAZARUS, S. K.
CHAKRABORTY,S. G. RAJE, C. GOPAL, P . U. ZACHARIA
AND A. K. VELAYUDHAN,
PRESENT STATUS OF EXPLOITATION OF FISH AND
SHELLFISH RESOURCES : THREADFIN BREAMS,
C.M.F.R.I, Cochin – 682031
www.fishbase.org
www.fao.org
www.wikipedia.org