1. POLYNEMIDS FISHERIES OF INDIA
By Shravan Kumar Sharma
FRM MA 02 07
CIFE, Mumbai

2. TAXONOMIC POSITION
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii (ray finned fishes)
Order: Perciformes
Family:Polynemidae

3. Etheronema tertradactylum
(Indian salmon)
Marathi name - Rawas
Polynemus indicus
Marathi name - Dara

4.  popularly known as threadfins
 partly pelagic and partly demersal fishes (kagwade.P.V.)
 Found in tropical to subtropical waters
 contains nine genera and 33 species.
 Smallest - 20 centimeters - black-finned threadfin (Polydactylus
nigripinnis)
 Largest - 200 centimeters (79 inches) four finger threadfins
(Eleutheronema tetradactylum) and giant African
threadfins(Polydactylus quadrifilis)

5.  These species do not form shoals, for which reason they are not in
great abundance. (kagwade.P.V.)
 The Bombay and Saurashtra waters are the richest, contributing to
about 80 % of the Polynemids landings of this country
 E. tetradactylum & Polynemus indicus - Highly esteemed table fish.
 Restricted abundance – mostly on N.W. coast
 Migratory species : Sea – river mouths & estuaries.
 Occur upto 70 – 90 m depth.
 Polynemids are spread over the tropical waters of Atlantic, Indian
and Pacific oceans and are not so far known to occur in the Red Sea.

6. There are 9 speceis are recorded grom the coastal waters of India
1. Eleutheronema tetradactylum {sunderban on east (Bhimachar, 1959) and
Bombay and Saurashtra on the west coast (Anon, 1941)}
2. Polynemus blebeius {sea and brackish water part of N-W coast of India}
3. P. sexifilis (from East coast of India)
4. P. sextarius (both on east and west coast but predominant in Madras)
5. P. xanthonemus (Day has stated the distribution to be in the seas from India to
China, but he couldn't obtain this species from Indian waters)
6. P. heptadactylum (Bombay and Saurashtra coast)
7. P. paradeseus (Bengal and Central andhra)
8. P.microstoma (off mandipam in the Gulf of Mannar)
9. P. indicus (both on east and west coast, dominant at Bomabay and Saurashtra
coast)

7. Family characters – presence of free filamentous rays on the
lower side of the pectoral fins which are varying in numbers
and used as feelers. The number and nature of these
filamentous rays assists the classification of species.
Based on latitudes and longitudes, this vast stretch of the
continental shelf from Mumbai to kutch has been charted in to
6 majors regions of Mumbai, Cambay, Veraval, Porbundar,
Dwarka and Kutch from south to north in order.

8.  Dwarka is the richest of all regions for ‘Dara’.
 In past, about 90 to 99 % of Dara from here.
 Thenafter it changes to kutch, but catch rates and
percentage catches is good at Dwarka than Kutch.
 Best catch of Dara – Nov to Dec, it prefers waters below
45 meters deep and temperature below 24 C.
 Fishery is also influenced by the lunar phases, the
catches being better in the neat tide periods.

9. Eleutheronema tetradactylum
Food and feeding : Carnivorous, predaceous, voracious, cannibalistic
Young – filter feeders – Copepods, Naupli, Amphipods
Planktonic forms in slightly grown ups – mysids, small prawns, post
larvae of fish
Adults – Polychaetes, decapods, stomatopods & fish.
P. indicus – Juvenile – crustaceans.
Adult – Carnivorous, piscivorous
Mohammed (1955), Karekar & Bal (1958)
Crustaceans – penaeid and non-penaeid prawns, crabs
Fish –Sciaenids, Sepia, Loligo
Malhotra observation E. tetradactylus – different feeding prefer at
different lengths
Upto 7.30 cm - copepods & mysids
30 – 60 cm - post larve & larvae of crustaceans & fish.
>60 cm - crustaceans and fish in sea and polychaetes –
estuaries.

10. AGE & GROWTH
P. indicus
Kagwade – Length frequency data and scales
34.5, 54.5, 74.5, 84.5, 94.5, 104.5 cm fork length 1 – VI
years of its life.
Largest record – 142 cm (Mohammed, 1955)
3-4 years class occurs in Dwarka.
Age 4 & above are found in Mumbai.
Length growth parameters – L = 135.2, K = 0.23,
to = -0.30 years.
Fish is immature till 3 years.
Mature 1st time when 4 year old

11. P. heptadactylus : 83, 128, 158, 188, 213, 237,
255, 273 mm I – VIII years
Length weight relationship :
W = 0.00001089 L3.0832
W = 0.00001147 L3.0745
Attains first maturity at 3rd year.

12. REPRODUCTION
Hermaphroditism – common in polynemids.
Spawning: Continuous - all round the year.
Presence of immature - mature - spent in all the months
indicate the same. Juvenile and post larvae also occur in
all months suggesting continuous spawning.
P. indicus according to Nayak (1959a) April to June and
October to December two peaks.
Grounds : Coastal waters appear to be the spawning
ground. Juveniles 9 mm - abundant in nursery ground
Dwarka.

13. Adults - deeper waters - move to shallower region &
breed - Navi Mumbai, Dahanu/Satpati 5.6 to 6.0 cm
recorded. Species in roe not recorded.
Overall - breeding - inshore areas.
Sex Ratio: As hermaphrodite P. indicus are recorded -
sex ratio is complicated Mohamed (1955) & Nayak
(1959a) Cambay - mostly females.
Mohammed (1955) _ satpati - majority males. Maturity
females. - Night catches. January to February -
Deshpande (1962). Thus segregation of sexes appear to
be common.

14. Embryonic Development
Planktonic egg 1.3 mm diameter. Oil glob. 6.5
mm.
Hatched after 4½ hrs. scales at larval length
24.8 mm. They feed on copepods, eggs of
copepods & later on Peneus (Kuthalingam)

15. P. indicus:
Trawl landings Dwarka & Kutch small sized
specimens ‘ dol’ & Waghra – large
Mature species – indicating shoreward
migration of the species. November – May peak.
Mature specimens in Feb. – March
P. heptadactylus :
No well defined season October – January the
landings appear to be more Adults from trawl ,
Juvenile – ‘dol’ nets.

16. Craft & Gear
commonly – seine nets, gill nets, long lines, hand
lines,
In NW coast – stake nets (dol nets), set long lines
(khanda), bottom drift gill nets Except “Waghra”
there is no exclusive net used for Polynemids –
Gujarat & Maharashtra
Bottom set gill net – shallower waters
Trawl & ‘dol’ also brings good catches of
polynemids.

17. CATCH DATA
 Demersal
 In 2011 – 943 tonnes (CMFRI, 2011-12)

18. REFERENCES CITED
1. Kagwade. P.V. Polynemid fishery of India. Central Marine
Fisheries Research Institute, Mandapam camp.
2. Jingaran , V.G; Riverine fisheries of India (revised & enlarged
third edition).
3. ICAR; Riverine fisheries. In handbook of fisheries &
aquaculture. pp: 90 - 105
4. CMFRI Annual report 2011-12