Study of biology of macrobrachium hendersodayanum (crustacea: decapoda: palaemonidae) from tarai region of Uttarakhand, India

The paper deals with some biological aspects of Macrobrachium hendersodayanum a fresh water commercially important crustacean which is highly preferred by the consumers locally at river Jagbuda in village Melaghat, tehsil Khatima (790 45’ E Long. and 290 0’ N Lat.) of district Udham Singh Nagar, Uttarakhand, India. The successful culturing of animal requires a basic understanding of its key biological processes. About 200 specimens of this species were collected monthly between August 2013 to July 2014 and studied with particular refrence to size composition, distribution, identification, morphology, reproductive biology and food and feeding habits. This study revealed that it was not a continuous breeder and showed only one breeding peak periods in a year before onset of monsoon. Males were larger than the female. But female sexually matures faster than males. More than 60 % berried females were found in the total length ranged between 5.2-6.5 cm The largest male (carapace length=2.0-2.2cm) with strongest chelate legs showed its dominance over recessive and non breeding males. Both male and female attained maturity at the age of about 4-6 months after hatching. It has omnivorous feeding habit. It was observed that diatoms, algae, crustaceans and other plant materials were its most preferred food.