The reproductive biology of golden barb (Barbus luteus Heckel, 1843) in Maroon River, Iran

Golden barb (Barbus luteus) is one of the species in south and southwest of Iran which is greatly favorable to residents of the region. Unfavorable ecological conditions in habitat of this species and overfishing have led to reduction of the population of golden barb. Therefore, to restore the natural stock of this species, identifying its reproductive cycle associated with its habitat is of a great importance. In this study, the reproductive status of golden barb in the Maroon River in Khuzestan Province was studied in six sampling steps during four seasons. Also, morphological indicators, sex ratio, age of fish, gonadosomatic and hepatosomatic indices, histological changes in the testis and ovary of the fish were studied. The ratio of male fish to female was 1 to 2.47. The maximum value of gonadosomatic index (GSI) is among the specimens aged 2 to 6 years and in April and May. An increase of hepatosomatic index (HIS) during April and May may indicate the increased activity of liver during vitellogenesis and vitellogenin synthesis that is well verified by histological results of ovarian tissue. Based on our findings, we recommend that the maximum reproductive activity of golden barb in the Maroon River starts around the end of March and continues to early of July.