SEASONAL VARATION IN PROTEIN CONTENT OF MUSCLES OF FRESHWATER CATFISH NOTOPTERUS NOTOPTERUS (PALLAS) IN RELATION TO SEX AND MATURITY CYCLE

The present paper deals with the seasonal variations in the biochemical composition of muscles of the catfish Notopterus notopterus (Pallas). This fish is one of the commonest catfishes of India. It occurs throughout the country and forms the mainstay of inland fishery in many parts of India. It is a popular item of diet amongst the poor class of people and is sold rather cheaply. Among the catfishes, the nutritive value of N. notopterus is higher than that of other cat fishes. Many authors have studied the proximate biochemical composition of the muscle of catfishes (Airan, 1950; Natarajan & Sreenivasan, 962; Kamal et al., 2007; Jafri, 2011). Except for a recent study on biochemical contents of brain in the freshwater catfish, N. notopterus in relation to sex (Shahana Banu et al., 2010), there has been no detailed account on the seasonal variation of biochemical constituents of various tissues of N. notopterus from Maharashtra, India.