The family Siganidae popularly called rabbitfishes are small to moderate-sized, commercially important fishes distributed throughout the Indo-Pacific region (Randall, 1995).
Several species of siganids are considered as excellent candidates for mariculture (Lam, 1974; Randall et al., 1997). Among the Siganus spp. of Oman, the white-spotted rabbitfish, S. canaliculatus (Park, 1797) is dominant in the landings both from the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman. The estimated landings of S. canaliculatus from the Arabian Sea coast of Oman for the years 2005-06 and 2006-07 stood at 571 t and 443 t respectively (GoSO, 2007; MSFC, unpublished data).
In spite of its commercial and cultural importance, no information is available on the biological characteristics of S. canaliculatus from the Omani waters.