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Trace metals (Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb) concentrations in muscles, livers and gills of three important marine fishes, Torpedo Scad (Megalaspis cordyla), Sea Catfish (Arius thalassinus) and Belangeri Croaker (Johnius belangeri) were studied using the Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). The samples were collected from Mersing the eastern coastal waters of Peninsular Malaysia. The estimated ranges of Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb concentrations in the muscles, livers and gills of the three fish species were 1.51-3.48, 17.54-28.34, 0.02-0.12 and 0.12-0.15; 15.8-26.0, 80.58-365.1, 2.32-6.14 and 0.57-1.54; 3.04-5.51, 61.63-259.3, 0.03-0.12 and 0.14-2.03 μg g-1 dry weight, respectively. Metal concentrations in the edible parts of the fish were assessed for human consumption according to the Provisional Tolerable Weekly Intake (PTWI) and Provisional Tolerable Daily Intake (PTDI). Generally, levels of metal in muscles were lower than those in livers and gills. Zinc concentration was found to be the highest among the tested metals in all three species. The estimated weekly and daily intakes for the studied metals were far below the PTWI and PTDI limits. Present study reveals that consumption of these fishes from the study area does not pose a risk to human health.

Larval stage of marine fishes, habitat characteristics, nursery and feeding ecology has been discussed in this review. Identification of fish larvae is difficult and that is why limited research is available on biology of fish larvae in the Indo-Pacific coastal region. Estuaries play a vital role in energy transfer between a river and a sea, which is especially important for many commercial coastal fishes whose larvae and juveniles are dependent on the estuary as a nursery and feeding grounds. Many coral reef fish species use mangrove and seagrass beds as nursery habitats. Diet composition of the family Clupeidae were made up of seven major categories to include phytoplankton, plant-like matter, debris, fragment of copepod, algae and unidentified food items. The most predominant food item in the gut of clupeids was phytoplankton (82.53%).

Morphometnc data of six dominant families of fish larvae were examined to observe the degree of similarity among the six families. The experiment was conducted in the seagrass-mangrove ecosystems of Gelang Patah, Johor Strait, Peninsular Malaysia. Samples of fish larvae were collected by using bongo net through 30 min subsurface tow. The six dominant families (Terapontidae, Gobndae, Sillaginidae, Nemipteridae, Blenniidae and Leiognathidae) were selected for the morphometric analysis using one-way ANOVA by SPSS and PRIMER 5 software for cluster analysis. All the morphometric characters, total length, standard length, body depth, snout length, head length, eye diameter and pre anal length of the six dominant families of the order Perciformes were found to be significantly different (p

Strombus canarium is a commercially important gastropod that has great potential for advancement into aquaculture. In this study, the metamorphosis response of Strombus canarium larvae to various metamorphosis cues associated with conch nursery habitat and to KCl and GABA, were tested. Bioassays were run as static, no choice experiment and adopting a continuous exposure approach. Strombus canarium larvae showed strong metamorphosis responses when sediment (i.e., conch nursery habitat sediment/SD-NU) and detrital substrata (i.e., Thalassia detritus leachate/T-LC) from their nursery habitat were used (p

The age, growth, mortality and population structure of Strombus canarium Linnaeus, 1758 were examined in the Johor Straits, Malaysia from January to December 2005. A total of 2088 conchs were sampled where females were more abundant than males with monthly sex ratio of 1.72±0.17 (N = 12). The estimated growth parameter showed higher asymptotic length (L∞) and growth coefficient (K) in females (L∞ = 70.20 mm, K = 1.50 year-1) compared with the males (L∞ = 69.30 mm, K = 1.20 year-1). This resulted in better overall growth performance of females (φ’ = 3.81) compared with the males (φ’ = 3.48). The growth pattern of females and males showed positive allometric nature of growth (b>3, p

The study was conducted at the Merambong Shoal, Johor Straits, Malaysia. Strombus canarium was the most abundant herbivorous mollusc within the study site, highly prized as seafood and contributes to the economics of the locals. Ontogenetic development of sex characters and sexual maturity were determined via logistic curve analysis, using shell-length and/or lip thickness as predictors. The minimum shell-length at which sex characters appeared was at 30 mm in males and 32 mm in females and both sexes can definitely be determined at more than 41 mm shell-length. The SX50 (probability of individuals can be sexed is 0.5) was at 38.33+0.41 mm for male and at 37.15+0.31 mm for female. The SL„ (length at which the probability of individuals are matured is 0.5) was at 54.14+0.86 mm shell-lengths for males and at 58.51+1.02 nun shell-lengths for females. The LIP„ (lip thickness at which the probability of individuals are matured is 0.5) values on the other hand was about 0.69+0.0003 and 0.80+0.014 mm for males and females respectively. The findings indicate that sexual dimorphisms occurred at very early stage in S. canarium life history