Dr Indar W. Ramnarine

Senior Lecturer in Zoology (Fisheries Management and Aquaculture)

Educational Background:

• B.Sc. (Agric) Upper Second Class Honours, U.W.I. (1980)
• M.Sc. (Fisheries Biology and Management) University of Wales (1985)
• Ph.D. (Zoology; in the field of fish biology and aquaculture) U.W.I. (1992)
• M.B.A.  Heriot-Watt University (Edinburgh Business School)– specializing in Human Resource Management (2001)

Areas of Expertise/Research Interests:

• Aquaculture development and sustainability
• Fish biology
• Fisheries management issues and sustainability
• Environmental issues
• Fish and crustacean biodiversity
• Fish behaviour

Courses Offered:

• Animal Diversity
• Functional Design in Animals
• Oceanography and Marine Biology
• Fisheries Biology and Management
• Tropical Aquaculture
• Freshwater Biology
• Sustainable landuse/food production systems
• Diseases of non-domestic animals

Current Graduate Students:

• Wayne Rostant (M.Phil) Biodiversity of the freshwater decapod crustaceans of Trinidad and Tobago.(with Dr M Alkins- Koo)
• Anuradha Singh (M.Phil) Comparative larval development in Macrobrachium spp.(with Dr J. Agard)
• Fazeela Mohammed (M.Phil) The fish pot fishery of Trinidad and Tobago.
• Natasha Mohammed (M.Phil) Fish nursery function of the Caroni Swamp (with Prof P.R. Bacon)
• Aweeda Newaj-Fyzul (M.Phil) Bacterial diseases of ornamental fish in Trinidad and Tobago (with Prof A.A. Adesiyun)
• Ann-Marie Jobity (PhD) Determination of selectivity in the gillnet fishery of Trinidad & Tobago
• Suresh Benny (M.Phil)  Development of a production system for the river conch Pomacea urceus
• Nadra Gyan (M.Phil) Restoration of the freshwater habitat of the Caroni Swamp and the effects on population dynamics of the Scarlet Ibis.
• Ryhanna Sedarnee (M.Phil) Intensive culture of the armoured catfish,    Hoplosternum littorale
• Zaheer Hosein (M.Phil) The trawl fishery of  Trinidad
• Rahanna Juman (Ph.D) Characterisation and Ecology of the Bon Accord Lagoon, Tobago W.I. (with Prof. P.R. Bacon)

Current Research Projects:

• Embryology, larval development, larviculture, nutritional requirements, and production technology of indigenous species of fish and shellfish with aquacultural potential.
• Intensification of the culture of tilapia and cascadu
• Fisheries management issues: determination of optimal mesh size for fish pots and gillnets
• Determination of critical habitats for fisheries
• Environmental issues: heavy metals and other toxicants in food fish
• Fish and crustacean biodiversity

Selected Bibliography

Magurran, A.E. and Ramnarine, I.W. (2004) Learned mate recognition and reproductive isolation in guppies, Poecilia reticulata.  Animal Behaviour 67: 1077 -1082.

Pettersson, L.B., Ramnarine, I.W., Becher, S.A., Mahabir, R,  and                   Magurran,  A.E. (2004)   Sex ratio dynamics and fluctuating selection pressures in natural populations of Trinidadian guppies Poecilia reticulata.  Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology. 55: 461 - 468

Ramnarine, I.W. (2004)  Quantitative protein requirements of the edible snail, Pomacea urceus. Journal of the World Aquaculture Society.35(2): 275-278 

Ramnarine, I.W. (2003)  Induction of spawning and artificial incubation of eggs in the edible snail Pomacea urceus (Muller). Aquaculture 215:163- 166

Croft, D.P, Arrowsmith, B.J., Bielby, J., Skinner, K., White, E., Couzin, I.D., Magurran, A.E., Ramnarine, I.W. and Krause, J. (2003)  Mechanisms underlying the social organization of the Trinidadian guppy. Oikos 100:429-438

Evans, J.P., Pilastro,A. and Ramnarine, I.W. (2003) Sperm transfer through forced matings and its evolutionary implications in natural guppy populations. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 78 (4): 605 – 612   

Ardjosoediro, I. and Ramnarine, I.W. (2002)  The influence of turbidity on growth, feed conversion and survivorship of the Jamaica red tilapia strain. Aquaculture 212: 163 -169.  

Evans, J.P., Kelly, J.L., Ramnarine, I.W. and Pilastro, A. (2002) Female behaviour mediates male courtship under predation risk in the guppy.  Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology 52: 496-502 

Kelly, J.L., Evans, J.P., Ramnarine, I.W. and Magurran, A.E. (2002) Back to School: Can predator behaviour in guppies be enhanced through social learning. Animal Behaviour. 63: 655 - 662 

Ramnarine, I.W. (2001)  Hatching trials with eggs of Hoplosternum littorale.  Aquaculture 198 (1-2): 123 - 127 

Phillip, D.A.T. and Ramnarine, I.W. (2001) An illustrated guide to the freshwater fishes of Trinidad and Tobago. 86 pp                                      

Ramnarine, I.W. (2000) Tilapia culture in the Eastern Caribbean, Guyana and Suriname In: Costa-Pierce B.A. and Rakocy, J.E. (eds) Tilapia culture in the Americas, Volume 2. World Aquaculture Society Publications, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. pp 245-251

Ramnarine, I.W. (1998)  Advances in global aquaculture in the 20^th century and prospects for the 21^st century, Trop. Agric. Special Issue: pp 207 - 211. 

Ramnarine, I.W. (1996)  Early development of the cascadu Hoplosternum littorale (Hancock, 1828). J. Aqua. Trop., 11: 97 - 104. 

Ramnarine, I.W. (1995)  Induction of nest building and spawning in the cascadu Hoplosternum littorale. J. Fish. Biol. 47: 555 - 557. 

Ramnarine, I.W. (1995)  The influence of varying dietary protein level on growth, feed conversion. Protein retention and body composition in the armoured catfish Hoplosternum littorale (Hancock, 1828) J. Aqua. Trop, 10: 159 - 165. 

Ramnarine, I.W. (1994)   Larval development and growth of the cascadu Hoplosternum littorale (Hancock 1828). Aquaculture 126: 291 - 298. 

Ramnarine, I.W. (1994) A field trial of the semi-intensive culture of the cascadu Hoplosternum littorale (Hancock 1828). Trop. Agric. 71 (2): 135 - 138. 

Ramnarine, I.W. (1989) Cascadu farming - A manual for the culture of Hoplosternum littorale. Occasional Paper No. 7, Department of  Zoology, U.W.I. St Augustine, 34 pp.

Ramnarine, I.W., Pirie, J.M., Johnstone, A.D.F., and Smith, G. (1987) The influence of ration size and feeding frequency on ammonia excretion by juvenile Atlantic cod Gadus morhua L. J. Fish. Biol., 31: 545 - 559.

Professional affiliations:

• World Aquaculture Society
• United States Aquaculture Society
• Caribbean Aquaculture Society
• Fisheries Society of the British Isles
• Aquaculture Association of Trinidad & Tobago

Referee for the Journals:

• Journal of Fish Biology
• Aquaculture
• Tropical Agriculture