Gonadal Development Stages of Wild Male Golden Mahseer, Tor putitora from Nainital Region of Uttarakhand, India

Golden mahseer, Tor putitora is an endangered fish of mid-Himalayan regions of India. It has good potential as aquaculture species for hill aquaculture, due to its high market demand. But the major constrains on introduction of this fish for aquaculture is its inability to breed in captivity and slow growth rate. Therefore, studies were carried out on its breeding biology to captive breed this fish for sustainable seed production. However, detailed study on reproductive pattern of adult golden mahseer is very limited. Therefore, in the present study, we have developed a macroscopic grading system for golden mahseer testes, which shows the testes development stages during the breeding season, which lasts from May-September in Bhimtal and Sattal lakes. The golden mahseer were sampled from February - September 2014, from Bhimtal and Sattal lakes. Altogether, 48 samples were collected during the sampling period. Based on macroscopic observation, the maturation stage of the testes was divided into five developmental stages: Immature (I), early spermatogenic (II), late spermatogenic (III), matured (IV) and spent (V).