Study on some biologycal aspects of crab, Portunus sanguinolentus (Herbst, 1783) landed at Veraval coast, Gujarat

The present investigations will be helpful to fishers and policy makers for providing baseline data for the conservation and management aspects of the fishery resource for future purpose. The biological study on Portunus sanguinolentus (Herbst, 1783) was conducted at Veraval coast of Gujarat. It is exploited by the use of trawler throughout the year by the coast. The biological information of crab such as length composition, length - weight relationship, sex ratio, maturity and gonadosomatic index were collected from the multiday trawler operated along the coast. A total 480 crab specimens were studied in the size range from minimum 34.6 mm to maximum 270.2 mm carapace length comprising of 224 males and 256 females. The highest observed length of the crab was 270.2 mm with a mean length of 109 ± 26 mm. The overall sex ratio was 1:1.14. Gonadosomatic index was the highest during March. Sexual maturity indicated that maturation takes place all throughout the year. Gonadosomatic index was higher in the month of August, December, February and March.