Occurrence of juvenile mackerel at Mandapam, Gulf of Mannar coast

Abstract

The occurrence of juveniles of the Indian mackerel, Rastrelliger kanagurta, (TL 80-110 mm) at Mandapam is reported for the first time. The occurrence of youngones of mackerel, Rastrelliger kanagurta (Cuvier), in the inshore waters along the Indian coasts as reported by various authors has been reviewed by Rao (1962). But so far there is no report of their occurrence in the southeast coast of Tamil Nadu: Sekharan (1962) gave an account of mackerel occurring in the fishery at Mandapam from 1951-56. But in this also, sizes below 150 mm are not reported.