Maturation, Spawning, and Feeding Habits of the Indian Mackerel Rastrelliger kanagurta (Cuvier, 1817) from the Sea of Oman off the Sohar Coast, Sultanate of Oman

The reproduction and feeding in the Indian mackerel Rastrelliger kanagurta (Cuvier 1817) were studied from the coast of Sohar, Sultanate of Oman from October 2007 to September 2009. The occurrence of spent gonads from April to October shows that the population of fish might spawn for about 7 months. However, the monthly gonadosomatic indices (GSI) and relative condition factor (Kn) fluctuated even during spawning season. Males and females matured (50%) at an average length of 227 and 232 mm respectively. The male to female ratio showed homogeneous distribution of sexes during 2007–2008 and 2008–2009. The fecundity in females ranged from 55,614 eggs to 133,728 eggs and the average fecundity was 93,205 eggs. The fish is a plankton feeder preferring mainly copepods followed by diatoms, crustacean remains, dinoflagellates, fish eggs and molluscan larvae.