Morphometric and meristic characterisation of Chrysochir aurea (Richardson, 1846) from West Bengal coast, India

The morphometric and meristic characteristics of Reeve’s croaker Chrysochir aurea (Richardson, 1846) from the West Bengal coast of India were analysed by examining 618 specimens (286 males and 332 females) ranging from 124 to 417 mm in length collected monthly between September 2021 and September 2022. The present investigation, which is the first of its kind, revealed comprehensive morphological variation and sex-based morphological differentiation of C. aurea. Compared to the total length of the fish, the standard length (b=0.879) had the fastest growth rate, while the second anal spine length (b=0.039) had the slowest. Compared to head length, post-orbital length (b=0.635) and eye diameter (b=0.114) had the fastest and slowest growth rates, respectively. A high degree of significant (p<0.01) positive correlation was observed among different morphometric characters of C. aurea in relation to total length or head length. Among 13 meristic counts, the coefficient of variation was found to be highest in arborescent appendages (3.78%) and lowest in the dorsal fin spine (0.40%). The fin formula of C. aurea based on the meristic counts from the present study can be described as D. X-XI/I/25-28, P. i 16-18, V. I/5, A. 2/7, C. 16-18. The current study also revealed the presence of 24 to 29 pairs of arborescent appendages along the edges of the gas bladder and 7 to 9 gill rakers in the first gill arch on the left side. The results indicated a high degree of homogeneity within the population of C. aurea occurring on the coast of West Bengal. Keywords: Chrysochir aurea, India, Meristics, Morphometry, Reeve’s croaker, West Bengal