Length-weight Relationships of Some Important Estuarine Fish Species from Merbok Estuary, Kedah

Merbok estuary, located in the northern part of Peninsular Malaysia, was inhibited by 81 species that are representatives of 45 genera and 36 families of fish. The length-weight relationship of 23 fish species belonging to 18 families was presented. The b values varied between 2.7928 for Butis gymnopomus and 3.6001 for Sillago sihama. Nine species exhibited positive allometric growth, 10 species were negative allometric growth, 3 species had isometric growth and 1 species was Gompertz form of growth. The length-weight relationships for some species from the Merbok estuary are hereby publish for the first time, and most of the fish specimens were juveniles. Keywords: Estuarine fishes, length, weight, fisheries management, Merbok estuar