author(s)
Showkat Hussain and Susan Manohar

abstract
The study investigates the vital aspects of reproductive biology: maturation stages of ovaries, spawning season and size at sexual maturity of Macrobrachium lamarrei lamarrei (H. Milne-Edwards, 1837). The sampling of M. lamarrei lamarrei was conducted from the Upper Lake of Bhopal during the period from January 2014 to December 2015. Five maturation stages were recognized on the basis of coloration of ovaries as well as development and arrangements different stages of ova within the ovary. These stages were designated as immature, maturing, mature, ripe and spent. The data shows M. lamarrei lamarrei spawn throughout the year with 2 peaks in a year. The peak spawning activity was observed in May- June and November – December. The results of one way ANOVA showed significant differences for ovarian developmental stages and morphological parameters. The size at onset of sexual maturity when fifty percent of the population was morphologically mature was estimated as (TL50 = 4.70 cm), thus size can be significantly utilized in fisheries management as an indicator for minimum permissible capture size.