Growth Indices and Reproductive Pattern of Freshwater Mussel Lamellidens Marginalis (Lamarck, 1819) in Northwest Bangladesh

Abstract

Bivalve mollusk constitutes a significant part of the world fishery today. Bivalves alone contributed 11.6 % to global aquatic production during 2016 and ranked 3rd position just next to finfish and seaweeds (FAO, 2018). Mollusks have been exploited worldwide for food, ornamentation, pearls, lime, and medicine (Nayar and Rao, 1985). They are of major interest to man and many species can play a great role in the national economy. From the standpoint of food alone mollusks have been the tremendous importance to man since prehistoric times. Mollusk’s meat is extensively used as human food. In south East Asia fish and mollusks provide over 50% of all consumed animal protein (Shabuddin et al., 2010). Beside this mollusk are also used for variety of other purposes as pearl production, bio-indicator in pollution monitoring, in controlling of harmful algal blooms, preparation of lime, poultry, shrimp and fish feed (Shabuddin et al., 2010).