Validation of a method for estimating realized annual fecundity in a multiple spawner, the long-snouted seahorse (Hippocampus guttulatus), using underwater visual census

The long-snouted seahorse (Hippocampus guttulatus) (Cuvier, 1829), was used to validate the pre-dictive accuracy of three progressively realistic models for estimating the realized annual fecundity of asyn-chronous, indeterminate, multiple spawners. Underwater surveys and catch data were used to estimate the duration of the reproductive season, female spawning frequency, male brooding frequency, and batch fecun-dity. The most realistic model, a generalization of the spawning fraction method, produced unbiased estimates of male brooding frequency (mean ±standard deviation [SD]=4.2 ±1.6 broods/year). Mean batch fecundity and realized annual fecundity were 213.9 (±110.9) and 903.6 (±522.4), respectively. However, females prepared significantly more clutches than the number of broods produced by males. Thus, methods that infer spawning frequency from patterns in female egg production may lead to significant overestimates of realized annual fecundity. The spawning fraction method is broadly applicable to many taxa that exhibit parental care and can be applied nondestructively to species for which conservation is a concern.

A method for the preparation of cooked-peeled-frozen prawns

Several consignments of cooked-peeled-frozen prawns exported from India were rejected last year due to high total plate count (TPC) at 30°C. The specified temperature of incubation for TPC in our country is 37°C. Hence the effect of incubation at 30 and 37°C on TPC was studied. It is seen that the count is higher on incubation at 30°C. A method for production of cooked-peeled-frozen prawns conforming to the specification for TPC at 30°C is standardized and is reported. It consists of recooking the cooked-peeled prawns followed by packing and freezing without further contamination. The method minimizes batch to batch or sample to sample variation in TPC.