Population Biology of the Goby Glossogobius giuris (Hamilton 1822) Caught in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam

Abstract

Glossogobius giruis (Hamilton 1822) is a commercial fish but there is no knowledge of its population biology. The present study was conducted along the coastlines from Soc Trang to Bac Lieu, Vietnam to contribute new information on population biological characteristics of G. giuris based on length-frequency distribution analysis of 673 individuals. The von Bertalanffy curve parameters of this goby were L∞= 20.53 cm, K = 0.56 yr⁻¹ and t0 = –0.02 yr⁻¹. The longevity (tmax) and the growth performance (Φ’) were 5.36 yrs and 2.37 respectively. The fishing, natural and total mortalities of this fish population were 1.77 yr⁻¹, 1.40 yr⁻¹ and 3.17 yr⁻¹ respectively and its exploitation rate was 0.56. There were two recruitment peaks in late April and in September, and the analyses of relative yield-per-recruit and biomass-per-recruit gave Emax = 0.633, E₀.₁ = 0.515 and E₀.₅ = 0.323. This goby is a potential aquaculture candidate due to its high growth parameters. The fish stock is subject to overexploitation and, as such, the deep gill net mesh size should be increased and the fish should not be caught during the recruitment period for sustainable fishery management.