Length-weight relationships of eight elasmobranch species captured along the Coromandel coast of Tamil Nadu,Eastern Indian Ocean

This study reports the length-weight relationships (LWR) for eight elasmobranch species; four shark species (Carcharhiniformes and Orectolobiformes), two species of rays (Myliobatiformes) and two species of guitarfishes (Rhinopristiformes) from the Coromandel Coast of Tamil Nadu, Eastern Indian Ocean. The specimens of these elasmobranch species were collected from the catches of various gears like trawl net, bottom set and drift gill net, hook & line at Chennai—Royapuram Fishing Harbour, Cuddalore Fishing Harbourand Nagapattinam Fishing Harbour situated along this coastal region fortnightly during June 2019–March 2020. The values of the parameter ‘b’ remained within the expected range of 2.5–3.5. Length- weight / Disc-width-weight relationships showed good fit with r² values varying from 0.8923 to 0.9869. This study also reports a new maximum TL length (L_max)for a shark species (Chiloscyllium griseum).