An account of the ripe ovaries of some Indian Tunas

Abstract

Vizhingam on,' the South-West Coast (Lat. 0 8 O 22' N., Long. 76O 59' E.), is one of the important tuna fishing centres in India. Of the twelve species of tuna recorded from the Indian waters (Jones et al., 1961 and Jones and Silas, 1961), seven species, Euthynnus' afinis (Cantor), Auxis thazard (Lachede), A. thynnoides Bleeker, Sarda orientalis (Temminck and Schlegel), Kishinoella tonggol (Bleeker), Neothunnus macropterus (Temminck and Schlegel) and Katsuwonus pelamis (Linnaeus), occur in the waters off Vizhingam. Out of these the first two species are of commercial importance, the rest being taken occasionally. At Vizhingam, they are caught in the drift nets and by hook and line. In certain months the schools of Euthynnus afinis come so close to the shore that they are captured sometimes in the shore-seines operated in the foreshore waters.