Males dominated the populations of U. archionema from Visakhapatnam during the study period. Sex ratio for male to females was 1:0.67. A scale of seven stages of maturity of gonads was identified in females. The mean length at first maturity was found to be 152mm in females. Peak spawning takes place during February-March and again in October-December. GSI has been found to be high during January to April and again in October to December in males; February, March, August, October and December in females. U. archionema was a fractional spawner and releases ripe eggs in two batches during the spawning season. The fecundity ranged from 3,583 to 8,773 ova. U. archionema was a carnivore feeds on fish, shrimp, cephalopods, crab, gastropods and miscellaneous items. There was no marked difference in the food composition between males and females. A common regression equation was given for both the sexes as W=2.85233E - 05 L 2.87047 (r = 0.89). Analysis of covariance conducted to test the difference between regression slopes of males and females showed a significant difference (p<0.05). Relative condition factor was low during June, August, October to December in males; February, March, August and October in females
