Morphological and meristic features of Vulnerable Tenualosa toli (Valenciennes, 1847) from Narmada estuary, Gujarat, India

Abstract

A clupeid group (Hilsa) in the Indian sub-continent is represented by three species viz., Tenualosa toli, T. ilisha and Hilsa kelee, which has great economic significance for the fishers. Tenualosa toil is observed to have narrow distribution in the Indian sub-continent, along with vulnerability status. The present study describes the morphological and meristic features of T. toli collected from the Narmada estuary, Gujarat, India. A single specimen was collected from the bag net catches (10 mm cod-end mesh size) - from Bhadbhut fishing site in December 2019. The size of specimen with a total length of 298 mm, standard length of 224 mm, and weight of 214 g. The morphometric and meristic characters were assessed and compared with other published literature. The present investigation of T. toli suggested that immediate measures should be adopted to rejuvenate the species in the aquatic habitats.