Length-weight relationship and morphological studies of the Polydactylus sextarius , Nemipterus japonicus and Pampus argenteus from the Fiery Cross Reef, South China Sea

This paper reports the length-weight relationships and morphological characters of three fishes namely, Polydactylus sextarius , Nemipterus japonicus and Pampus argenteus , collected from the Fiery Cross Reef (9 o 37’ N, 112 o 58’ E) of South China Sea during November 2013. The length-weight relationships of the studied fishes can be expressed as W Po = 1.17 L 1.46 for P. sextarius, W Ne = 0.07 L 2.73 for N. japonicus and W Pa = 0.04 L 3.05 for P. argenteus . Growth of P. argenteus was found to be positive ( b > 3) and N. japonicus ( b = 2.73) was negative allometric. Body length of P. sextarius varied from 100.36 to 119.43 mm , and the wet weight ranged from 10.04 to 45.42 g. Body length of N. japonicus varied from 88.37 to 159.54 mm, wet weight ranged from 22.42 to 128.39 g. Body length of P. argenteus varied from 75.13 to 92.07 mm, and wet weight ranged from 20.58 to 42.27 g. The study provides first biological reference in these species in Fiery Cross Reef, South China Sea. In addition, the results of the present study will offer fundamental information for resource assessment as well as for taking up further aquaculture practices of these three species.