Contents: Preface. I. Introduction. II. History of age and growth: 1. Work dome abroad. 2. Work done in India. III. Methodology. IV. Growth studies: 1. Scale structure 2. Growth: i. Growth pattern. ii. Case-histories: a. Cirrhinus mrigale (Hamilton). b. Labeo rohita (Hamilton). c. Catla catla (Hamilton). d. Labeo calbasu Hamilton). V. Growth parameters: 1. Specific rate of linear growth. 2. Specific rate of weight increase. 3. Index of population weight growth intensity. 4. Index of species average size. 5. Growth characteristic and growth constant. 6. Growth compensation or Lee's phenomenon. VI. Harvestable size. VII. Mortality and population size: 1. Mortality: i. Mortality rate. 2. Population size. VIII. Epilogue. Appendix. References. Index.

"The study of age and growth is an important and essential aspects of fishery biology and management. In the developed countries the use of hard parts found favour for deciphering ages which helped officials to take decisions in managing fishery problems. In India, ever since the Central Fisheries Research Institutes came into existence, the study of hard parts for ageing fish attracted the attention of the Ichthyologists. But due to difficulty in reading them they did not receive much attention. From time to time attempts continued to be made and interpret the markings on these hard parts as annual rings.

"In northern India distinct summer and winter seasons are marked which prompted the authors of the book to look into this neglected field more deeply.

"Literature on age and growth of fresh water fishes of India and abroad has been extensively reviewed. The text is supported by numerous tables, figures and photographs.

"The use of hard parts such as scales, opercular bones, vertebrae, frontal bones, cleithra, otoliths and fin ray sections in the age determination has been described though main emphasis is on the use of scales. The application of statistical methods to interpret the phenomenon of growth based on extensive scale studies has been found useful. Light microscopy and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) have been employed to define the structure of annulus and other markings on the scale.

"Voluminous data form the basis of interpretation of the ageing and growth pattern in Cirrhinus mrigala, Labeo rohita, Catla catla and Labeo calbasu from Gobindsagar (Himachal Pradesh), Harike Wetland (Punjab), Rang Mahal and Jaisamand Lake (Rajasthan). An interesting feature discovered by the authors is that of "old age" in these fishes. To regulate the fishery and to obtain the sustained yield the use of harvestable size on the basis of growth data has been suggested. The relationship between the annual mortality rate and the annual catch to understand the population size of a body of water has been highlightened.

"The book will be extremely useful to those who wish to understand the phenomenon of age and growth from different angles". [jacket]

[K.K. Tandon is Professor of Zoology in the Department of Zoology, Panjab University Chandigarh. He also wrote Monograph on the Fishes of Reorganized Punjab.] 

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