Seasonal variation in length-weight relationship and relative condition of Sardinella gibbosa of Balochistan coast

The present study describes the length-weight relationships (LWR) as well as the condition factor of Sardine fish Sardinella gibbosa from the Balochistan Coast. The fishes were procured from fisherman during the months of August, 2009 to July, 2010. Log transformed regression was used to determine the growth of specimens (n=351). The regression coefficient ‘b’ of the relationship has a value b=3 which are when compared with an isometric slop b=3 show that growth of Sardinella is positively allometric. It was concluded that body proportion changes as fish grew in size. Results showed highest mean length of fish of 19.5±0.68 cm in winter season and lowest of 14.5±0.95 cm in spring. The highest and mean weight of 80±4.266 cm and 45.5±2.65 respectively, were recorded in spring. The condition factor (k) average to 1.29 ±0.18. The mean condition factor was highest in summer (mid May to mid September) 1.49±0.078 and lowest in summer (mid May to mid September) 1.05±0.007. The relationships between condition factor and log weight and condition factor and total length were highly significant