A Comparison of Commercial Characteristics and Yield Partitioning Between Macrobrachium rosenbergii (De Man 1879) and Macrobrachium malcolmsonii (Milne Edward 1894)

Macrobrachium rosenbergii and Macrobrachium malcolmsonii are two important freshwater prawn species having commercial importance. Both the species command same price in export market. A comparison of yield traits between two species has been studied to get insight into carcass and commercial traits. In both species, head percentage showed an increasing trend while the tail percentage showed a decreasing trend, with increase in body weight. M. rosenbergii had a higher overall head percentage compared to that of M. malcolmsonii. Peeled data on M. rosenbergii indicated a higher tail flesh percentage on tail weight basis. Same trend was observed when data was analyzed on body weight basis. In general, tail meat yields for M. rosenbergii were significantly (P 0.05) higher than those of M. macolmsonii. Tail scale percentage on tail weight basis was higher in M. rosenbergii in comparison to M. malcolmsonii. As the body weight increased the tail scale percentage decreased in M. rosenbergii however it is reverse in M. malcolmsonii. M. rosenbergii has thick tail shell in comparison to M. malcolmsonii.