Ribbon fish, also known as hair-tail or cutlass fish, are an important bycatch species in Indian fisheries. They have an elongated, ribbon-like body and belong to the family Trichiuridae. The four commercially important species in India are Trichiurus lepturus, Eupleurogrammus intermedius, Lepturacanthus savala, and E. muticus. Ribbon fish are carnivorous predators found in marine and estuarine waters along the Indian coasts. Their spawning occurs seasonally from April-June or November-December. Landings of ribbon fish in India have increased over time, with the highest recorded landings of 197,000 tonnes

1. Arnab Basu
II nd semester
S.I.F.;C.U.S.A.T.

2. GENERAL INFORMATION:-
 Ribbon fish also known as “Hair-tail” or “Cutlass fish”.
 It is a leading by-catch species in India.
 Thin, elongated, compressed, ribbon like body, caudal fin
absent, body colour silvery with prominent canine like
teeth.
 Mainly marine, but some time found in the estuary.

3. TAxONOMIc cLAssIFIcATION:-
 Phylum- Chordata
 Subphylum- Vertebrata
 Class- Actinopterygii
 Super-order- Acanthopterygii
 Order - Perciformes

4.  Ribbon fish have 4 commercially important Varity
(found in Indian water) belonging under the:-
Family: Trichiuridae
Sub family: Sub family:
Sub family: Lepidopodinae Aphanopodinae Trichiurinae
Trichiurus lepturus
Eupleurogrammus
intermedius Lepturacanthus savala
E. muticus

5. Lepturacanthus savala (Large-headed ribbon fish) & Distribution
Trichiurus lepturus(ribbon fish) & Distribution

6. Eupleurogrammus muticus (Small-head hailtail)

7. Species Length Size-wt. Environme- Climate Identifying
in 1st nt character
maturity
(cm)
Trichiurus 46.3 -47 Max length : Marine; Subtropical •Body extremely
lepturus 234 cm (M) brackish; elongate, compressed.
benthopelagic •Dorsal fin relatively
high.
•Dorsal spine 3;soft ray
130-135
Eupleurogra- - - ,, - •Dorsal spine 3 & soft ray
123-129.
-mmus •Caudal fin absent.
intermedius •Snout elongated.
Lepturacanth - - ,, - • Lateral line running
nearer the ventral than the
-us savala dorsal side of the body.
• Pelvic and caudal fins
absent; anal fin reduced to
spinules .
•Dorsal spine 3-4 & soft-ray
110 -120
E. muticus - - ,, - •Dorsal spine 3& soft ray 139
-147

8. •Among those 4 commercially important species
Trichiurus lepturus is important dominating species
found throughout east and west coast.
Other Non- commercial Species:-
 Trichiurus gangeticus
 T.russelli
 Lepturacanthus serrattus etc.

9. FOOd & FEEdING HAbIT

10. •Ribbon fish are predacious, carnivorous and some time shows cannibalistic
behavior and selective feeding behavior.
•Feeding both during day and night.
•Intensity of feeding is not related to the spawning activity.
Stage Food
Post-larvae and juveniles larvae and Small juvenile (anchovy,
clupeoids, carangidae),
cephalopods larvae, calanoid copepods, post
larvae & larvae of penaeid prawns &
shrimps, crabs, acetes etc
Adults Commercially important fish and other
organisms i.e. Stolephorus spp. Kowala
coval, Sardinella spp., Leioggnathus spp.,
Dussumieria spp., polynemids, Carnax spp.,
Acetes*, Penaeus & metapenaeus prawns,
octopus, squilla*,crab larvae, isopods, Sepia
spp., megalopa larvae etc.

11. REPROdUcTIVE bIOLOGY

12. DIFFERENT REPRODUCTIVE STAGE OF RIBBON FISH (BAL AND RAO)

13. sPAWNING sEAsON

14.  On west coast, peak spawning season April- June. But
in east coast it is February to June , peak in May.
 Another is November - December.

15.  Spawning period of different species different.
 The breeding grounds of ribbonfishes are outside the usual
fishing ground; ripe fish, eggs, early embryonic stages and
larval forms are not very common in inshore waters.
Species No. of spawning batches Time
(per year)
Eupleurogramous 2 March- April , November &
intermedius December.
E. muticus 2 ,,
Lepturacanthus savala 2 ,,
Trichiurus lepturus 1 June(Prabhu,1955)
2 May-june & nov-dec(Tampi
et al.1971)

16. FEcUNdITY

17.  It is varies depending upon species to species.
 The gonads are bi-lobed & lie above the alimentary canal.
Species No. of egg
Eupleurogramous intermedius 2249(40.9 cm) – 9950 (45 cm)
E. muticus 1327 (49.5 cm)- 2087 (55.1 cm)
Lepturacanthus savala 9178(37.0 cm) -17347 (54.0 cm)
Trichiurus lepturus 4000 (42.0 cm)- 16000 (60.0 cm)
FECUNDITY – FOR DIFFERENT SPECIES OF RIBBON FISH (BAL & RAO, 1984)
Bal, D.V and Rao, K.V (1984) Marine Fisheries, 1st Edn., p 469, Tata Mc-GrawHill Publication, New Delhi, India

18. sEx RATIO

19.  Percentage of male is always lower than female, in the
peak spawning season– April, May, August &
November.
 Ratio is:- 1:1.4(male:female)

20. AGE ANd GROWTH

21.  The age & growth of fish varies depending upon species to
species & duration of the year.
 Male grow less than female for every species.
Species Year I YearII
Eupleurogramous 20.7 cm (For Male) 31.6 cm (For Male)
intermedius 21.5cm(For Female) 34.1cm(For Female)
Trichiurus lepturus 18cm (For Male) approx. 30cm(For Male) approx.
21.5cm(For Female) 33.1cm(For Female)
approx. approx.
Lepturacanthus savala - -
E. muticus - -
Max. size for E. muticus and Lepturacanthus savala------58.4 cm &56.4 cm
respectively
Bal, D.V and Rao, K.V (1984) Marine Fisheries, 1st Edn., p 469, Tata Mc-GrawHill Publication, New Delhi, India

22. dIsTRIbUTION

23.  Major and abundant fishery resource among the marine
pelagic fin fishes of the Indian seas.
 Distribution in the Atlantic and Indo-Pacific regions and in
India they are distributed all along the coast with
abundance in the northwest and central east coasts.
 In India T. lepturus found both east & west coast---
dominating species. Contributed about 92 -95%.
 Gujarat, Andhrapradesh, West-bengal, northern
Maharastra, south-east cost of Tamilnadu, karnataka, Kerala
etc are important landing centre.

24. FIsH & FIsHERY

25.  The ribbonfish landing in India has shown an increasing
trend with considerable annual fluctuations.
 Average Landing(‘000 tonnes)-Throughout the India
YEAR QUANTITY
1961- 1970 28.33
1971- 1980 57.32
1981- 1990 65.28
1991-2000 121.27
2001-2005 153.38
•Maximum Landings- 197.11 (2002)
•Minimum Landing- 16.45 (1963)
•Landing for 2007- 114.12

26.  AVERAGE LANdINGs(‘000 TONNEs) -kERALA
YEAR QUANTITY
3.99 Landing for 2007 --- 11.76
1961- 1965
8.26 Max. Landing 31.78 (2001)
1966- 1970
Min “ 0.17 (1964)
1971-1975 19.42
1976-1980 15.60
1981-1985 10.16
1986-1990 7.14
1991- 1995 18.65
1996-2000 18.65
2001-2005 19.15

27. AVERAGE LANdINGs(‘000 TONNEs) -ORIssA
YEAR QUANTITY
0.37
1976-1980 Landing for 2007 --- 8.61
Max. Landing 8.61 (2005)
1981-1985 1.11 Min “ 0.13 (1976)
1986-1990 2.70
1991- 1995 2.46
4.76
1996-2000
2001-2005 7.36

28. AVERAGE LANdINGs(‘000 TONNEs) - ANdHRA
YEAR QUANTITY
1961- 1965 5.67
Landing for 2007---6.40
1966- 1970 7.04
Max. Landing 20.17 (99)
1971-1975 Min “ 2.76 (1963)
7.66
1976-1980 9.70
1981-1985 7.32
1986-1990 5.11
8.18
1991- 1995
1996-2000 12.02
2001-2005 11.52

29. AVERAGE LANdINGs(‘000 TONNEs) - kARNATAkA
YEAR QUANTITY
1961- 1965 0.21
Landing for 2007 ---15.02
0.27
1966- 1970 Max. Landing 15.62(05)
Min “ 0.02 (1964)
1971-1975 0.35
0.78
1976-1980
1981-1985 1.14
1986-1990 5.33
1991- 1995 4.03
1996-2000 6.03
9.77
2001-2005

30. AVERAGE LANdINGs(‘000 TONNEs) - GOA
YEAR QUANTITY
1966- 1970 0.22
Landing for 2007 ---3.98
1971-1975 0.11
Max. Landing 3.98(05)
0.74 Min “ 0.01 (1972)
1976-1980
1981-1985 0.93
1986-1990 1.64
1991- 1995 1.63
1996-2000 1.00
2001-2005 2.11

31. AVERAGE LANdINGs(‘000 TONNEs) - MAHARAsHTRA
YEAR QUANTITY
1961- 1965 4.43
1966- 1970 5.11 Landing for 2007 --- 13.91
1971-1975 9.50 Max. Landing 66.28(02)
Min “ 1.78 (1962)
9.86
1976-1980
1981-1985 12.39
1986-1990
18.91
1991- 1995 25.64
1996-2000 38.51
2001-2005 39.95

32. AVERAGE LANdINGs(‘000 TONNEs) - GUjARAT
YEAR QUANTITY Landing for 2007 --- 43.62
1961- 1965 0.46
Max. Landing 83.21(97)
Min “ 0.29 (1962)
1966- 1970 1.47
1971-1975 1.30
9.76
1976-1980
1981-1985 10.15
22.66
1986-1990
1991- 1995 38.24
1996-2000 57.61
2001-2005 52.23

33. AVERAGE LANdINGs(‘000 TONNEs) -
WEsTbENGAL
YEAR QUANTITY Maximum Landing- 8.02(2005)
1976-1980 0.42 Minimum Landing-0.14(1980)
Landing for 2005- 8.02
1981-1985 2.12
1986-1990 1.94
1991- 1995 2.36
1996-2000 2.55
2001-2005 6.57

34. cRAFT ANd GEAR

35.  Basically ribbon fish is a by-catch species. So, it is come
with other species….
 Gear are used- Trawl net, Dol net, Gill net, Seine net,
hook etc. are used throughout the India.
 In kerala mainly used- Trawl net, Gill net, Seine nets.
 By using trawl net ribbonfish landed 73- 74% .
 The gill net, purse seine and others contributed to 15- 16%
during the decade 1991-2000.
 For catch juvenile trawl net, boat seine and ring seine net
(mesh size less than 10mm) are used.
Gear Amount(%) Year
Trawl net 74 1991-2000
Drift Gill net, Boat 16 ,,
seine, Shore seine,
Purse seine and
others

36. STATE-WISE DISTRIBUTION OF GEAR :-
STATE GEAR
Andhra Pradesh Trawl net, Gill net, Seine nets
Orissa Trawl net, Gill net
Karnataka Trawl net, Seine nets
Goa Trawl net, Gill net
Maharashtra Trawl net, Dol net
Gujarat Dol net, Gill net
West-bengal Bag net, Trawl net, Gill net

38. MANAGEMENT:-
 Ribbon fish is very important species as a by-catch, so for
save this species many management options like effort
regulation, closed season, closed area, gear regulation, mesh
regulation.
 Intensive approach also seen for ensure good brood stock,
for fishery industry.

39. OTHER FAcTOR:-
 It has low price in the market, so acceptable for
poor people as a food- used as a cheap protein.
 Dried ribbon fish also use as fish product.
 Pearl essence formed from the guanine(present
in the skin)
 Frozen & dried fish both are exported China,
Japan and other southeast Asian countries.

40. THANK YOU