Length-weight relationship of sucker head, Garra Gotyla Gotyla (Gray, 1830) in different rivers of Nepal and the influence of monsoon

Size structure data particularly that of length and weight is very important fisheries management tool, which is also applied to assess the health, habitat and integrity of the rivers. Nepal is tremendously rich in both fisheries and water resource and thus, this analysis is very important. However, this kind of analysis is not common in fisheries studies and hence the size structure information of all the fish in Nepal is wanting. This study simply tries to open the door for such studies with the study of the sucker head Garra gotyla gotyla, a very common fish in Nepal. The field observation was done in nine rivers of the country in all the seasons of the 2003 by using electrofishing gear. The length-weight relationship was found to vary both spatially and temporally among rivers and seasons respectively indicating different conditions in different rivers. The length weight relationship also showed some interesting facts about the seasonal cycle of the species indicating the period of growth and stress in different rivers. The monsoon event was found to be highly influential in this relationship. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]