Reproductive Biology of Puntius sophore in Bangladesh

Pool barb (Puntius sophore) is an important small indigenous species of Bangladesh, belonging to the family Cyprinidae of the order Cypriniformes. The main objectives of the present study were to identify the breeding season of Pool barb through observation of the gonadosomatic index (GSI), fecundity, oocytes diameter, and gonadal histology of the species. GSI was calculated and fecundity was determined by the gravimetric method. Interestingly, the highest value of GSI was 15.43 ± 2.20 for the month of April at Gazipur while it was 15.60 ± 1.74 in June for Jessore. In Gazipur, the highest fecundity (5053 ± 878.27) was recorded in the month of April and the highest fecundity (5433 ± 968.26) was recorded in the month of June for Jessore. Histology of the ovary of Pool barb shows the presence of early and late perinucleolar stage of oocytes during March indicating immature oocyte. Histological data revealed that the spawning season of Pool barb starts from March to July with a peak during April to May for Gazipur region and May to July for Jessore region. Finally, these results can be concluded that breeding season may vary from region to region due to environmental as well as other factors.