Studies on Fecundity and Ova Diameter of the Near Threatened Indian Butter Catfish [Ompak bimaculatus (Bloch, 1794)] from Vamsadhara River, Andhra Pradesh, India

Ompok bimaculatus (Bloch 1794) is a near threatened catfish of freshwaters, belongs to the family Siluridae of the order Siluriformes. Due to its rich lipo-protein content and soft bony structure it becomes delicious and nutritiously highly valuable food fish species. At present Ompok bimaculatus facing decline in the natural populations, due to several anthropogenic factors such as indiscriminate fishing during the breeding season, unscientific use of pesticide in agricultural fields, gradual siltation in the freshwater habitat, depletion of water velocity as a result of decrease in water volume etc. Because of such drastic reduction in its population and a very restricted distribution in the freshwater ecosystem, Present work aims to an experimental analysis of reproductive biology of Ompok bimaculatus. Standardized knowledge on factors like fecundity, ova diameter, maturity, sex-ratio, and spawning are essential pre-requisites in fishery management and conservation. For understanding the dynamics of the gonads and to assess reproductive performance of species information of the phase of gonad development is virtually important