Gonadal Cycle of Freshwater Crab Paratelphusa Masoniana (Henderson) of Gho-manhasan Stream a Tributary of River Chenab, J&k State, India

The gonadal cycle of freshwater crab Paratelphusa masoniana (Henderson) has been studied in the lower reaches of river Chenab. Paratelphusa masoniana (Henderson) is a seasonal breeder that breed twice in a year (June-July and December- January). These crabs exhibits well marked seasonal variation that can be depicted on the basis of colour and size of gonads. The gonadal cycle of these crabs has been studied on morphological basis of gonads only. In males the gonads shows variation with respect to size of the body while in females they exhibits variation both with respect to body size as well as seasonal variation.