Survey on sound producing marine fishes and ichthyoplankters of Parangipettai coastal waters, southeast coast of India.

A n investigation on the planktonic fish eggs and larvae in Parangipettai (lat.11° 29'N and long.79° 49'E) coastal waters was carried out to know the spawning grounds of sound producing marine fishes in the area. The fishes were regularly collected from Annan Koil landing centre, Mudasalodai landing centre and Pazhayar landing centre from December, 2005 to November, 2006. Thirty two species of fishes capable of producing sound have been documented. These fishes belong to 4 major families namely Sciaenidae, Holocentridae, Pomadasyidae and Theraponidae. In Sciaenids, a pair of sonic muscles and air-bladder is the sound producing organ, whereas in Holocentrids (Squirrel fish) the well developed sonic muscles enable them to produce much more sound than other fishes, while in Pomadasyids and Teraponids pharyngeal teeth produce sound. The fish availability exhibits a monthly trend. In general, fish eggs occurred abundantly in post monsoon and post larvae, juveniles are abundant in monsoon. The fish population is also higher in post monsoon months.