Pratap Chandra Das

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Principal Scientist at ICAR-Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture

Algaecide property of leaf aqueous extracts (LAEs) of three plants viz., Azadiracta indica, Tridax procumbens, Calotropis procera as well as two indigenous technologies (ITKs) viz., application of neem oil and cow urine were evaluated against wild Microcystis bloom and pure culture of Microcystis aeruginosa in laboratory. Five treatments were desig...

Background The biofloc system (BFS) provides a sustainable aquaculture system through its efficient in situ water quality maintenance by the microbial biomass, besides continuous availability of these protein-rich microbes as feed to enhance growth and immunity of the reared organism. This study explores the gill architecture, growth performance, d...

The family Dactylogyridae, known for its role as a frequent pathogen in Cyprinids, was identified in a case of mass mortality involving Catla catla fingerlings (measuring 6.5 ± 2.0 cm and weighing 40.5 ± 10 g) in West Bengal, India. Microscopic examination revealed the presence of two co-existing parasites, Dactylogyrus formosus and Paradactylogyru...

Use of botanical pesticides is considered a safe and environment friendly method for controlling rice insect pests in lowland. To explore the possibility of using neem oil (Azadirachta indica) and the leaf extract of Polygonum hydropiper (a lowland weed) as botanical pesticides against rice insect pest in lowland rice-fish ecosystem, acute toxicity...

Fingerlings of catla and rohu were exposed to ambient sub-lethal total ammonia-nitrogen concentrations of 1, 2, 4, 8, 11.8 and 16 mg/l for 96 hours to study the toxic effect. Haematological parameters such as TEC and TLC increased in both species in lower concentration of ambient ammonia but decreased in higher concentration while haemoglobin and s...

Sun- dried and powdered Azolla caroliniana substituting 20, 40, 60 and 63.6% of the protein supplement (groundnut oil cake) of the conventional diet (at 10, 29.2, 60 and 63.6% incorporation in diet, respectively) of Indian major carp was fed to Labeo rohita fingerlings for a period of 90 days. Substitution of groundnut oil cake up to 40% in the pro...

Biofloc based fish farming are becoming more popular in freshwater aquaculture for high value fish species culture. Biofloc production system is one such system that relies on fish production based on the protein-rich live heterogeneous aggregate of suspended particles and variety of microorganisms such as bacteria, algae, fungi, invertebrates and...

Labeo fimbriatus is a medium carp species found throughout India's peninsular river basins and is regarded as a valuable aquaculture resource alongside Indian major carps due to its taste and nutritional value. This species has recently declined dramatically due to habitat degradation and overfishing. Because of its enormous economic importance, a...

High‐density fingerling rearing of pengba was conducted for 90 days in biofloc system (BFS) to study the effect of stocking density on growth, feed utilization, water quality, water use efficiency and health of animals. The study was conducted in 12 continuously aerated tanks (50 m3), grouped into four treatments T‐1, T‐2, T‐3 and T‐4, which were s...

The search for potential new aquaculture species for pond culture has been continuing under different aquaculture research and development programs. These studies gather knowledge about candidate fish species and their performance during production. Many times, hatchery owners and farmers have faced failure after adopting a new fish for production...

The 19-fold increase in fish production in the last seven decades in India, i.e., from 0.75 million metric tonnes (MMT) in 1950–51 to the present level of 14.2 MMT amply justifies the importance of the fisheries sector not only providing the protein and nutritional security of the masses but also its increasing contribution to the national economy....

High density fingerling rearing of pengba, Osteobrama belangeri in biofloc system was carried out for 45 days with wheat flour and molasses as two carbon sources to maintain C/N ratio of 15:1. Effect of biofloc was evaluated in terms of water quality changes, fish growth performance, digestive enzyme activities, non‐specific immune system and antio...

Under the farmer FIRST project about 400 beneficiary farmers were provided access toimproved agricultural technologies in Khordha district. Skill training and demonstration ofmodules on improved technologies on Crop, Horticulture, Livestock and Fishery wereconducted. Following the DFID framework (1999) the impact on livelihoods of farmerswas measur...

Culture of the three IMC (catla, rohu and mrigal) and three exotic major carps (silver carp, grass carp and common carp) have been the main stay of aquaculture in India contributing a share of more than 70% of the inland production over the years. Although introduction of the exotic carps into the carp polyculture system during early sixties added...

Aim: The present investigation was conducted to access the effect of salinity stress on growth performance, survival and biochemical parameters of Gibelion catla under different salinity conditions with an idea to assess the potentiality of this species in inland saline affected areas. Methodology: A 30-day-experiment was conducted in 1000 l (n=10)...

Influence of varied water exchange (total of 0%, 40%, 60%, 80% and 100% in four phases during three months) on fingerling production of Indian major carps-catla, rohu and mrigal under polyculture was evaluated in large outdoor concrete tanks (50 m²). Rearing density of 30 fry m⁻³ was used. Survival in the control tanks reduced during the 2nd month...

Burgeoning population growth, increasing affluence, and changing dietary habits of people have caused a phenomenal rise in fish demand over the years in India. Diversification of aquaculture species aimed at increasing yield and providing a wider choice of fish protein to the consumers has led to the introduction of several more affordable species...

Stunted juveniles of Catla catla (Hamilton, 1822) were produced through 150 days of stunting with five combinations of density and photoperiod. These stunted juveniles were subsequently polycultured in grow-out ponds for eight months along with rohu (Labeo rohita) and mrigal (Cirrhinus mrigala). In grow-out trial, the five treatments with different...

Seed stunting of rohu, Labeo rohita (Ham.) carried out for 6 months in 24 large (50 m2) concrete tanks using 20 and 40 fry m−2 rearing densities under open and shade (50% light incidence) conditions. A significant influence of tank shading observed on all the water quality parameters, unlike the density effect only on the dissolved oxygen content i...

India is the second largest fish producing country in the world, but our per capita fish consumption is less than the global average. Blessed with abundant water resources across the country, we are yet to exploit the full potential of the available resources. As the marine production is almost stagnant, the additional fish production has to be sou...

Background: Seed stunting is a process of suppressing the normal growth of fish by manipulating various factors affecting the growth process. The present study aimed at evaluating the influence of varied photoperiod and stocking density on the growth and survival of catla (Catla catla) during the stunting process. Methods: Five treatments including...

Influence of two levels of periphytic substrate (bamboo mats) on water quality and growth performance of five carp species was studied in grow-out polyculture system in earthen ponds for six months. With similar fertilization and supplementary feeding in all ponds, stripped bamboo mats were provided to create 0, 10 and 20% substrate surface area fo...

A 30‐day nursery trial was conducted to study the contribution of fertilizers, feed and aeration on the growth performance of fringed lipped carp, Labeo fimbriatus fry. Twelve large outdoor concrete tanks (10 m x 5 m x 1.2 m each) provided with 15 cm soil base were divided into three treatment groups. The three treatments received varied input comb...

Study was conducted for 90 days to know the effect of varying water alkalinity in production of stunted fingerlings of Catla catla in outdoor FRP tanks (1000 litre). Tanks filled up to 800 litre marks were grouped into three triplicated treatments and were stocked with catla seed (3.9g, 67±0.27mm) at 16 nos per tank (20 m-3). Three alkalinity level...

Two grow-out studies one on the compatibility of Pengba, Osteobrama belangeri with catla and rohu; and the other on finding its ideal incorporation level in the three species major carp polyculture system (catla, rohu and mrigal) were conducted for 11 and six months, respectively. In Study-I, two treatments having pengba stocked either with catla o...

Fingerling rearing of pengba, Osteobrama belangeri, was conducted at varied densities for 90 days in 12 outdoor concrete tanks (10 m × 5 m × 1 m). The tanks, grouped into four triplicated treatments, were stocked with fry at 20, 30, 40 and 50 fry m‐3; and designated as control, T‐1, T‐2 and T‐3 respectively. Tanks were filled up to 90 cm depth. Eva...

A study was conducted to find the optimum water depth requirement for nursery rearing of rohu Labeo rohita (Hamilton, 1822). Nine concrete tanks of 50 m 2 each (10 x 5 x 1.2 m) were grouped into three treatments T1, T2 and T3 and were filled upto 1.0, 0.75 and 0.5 m water depths, respectively. Each tank was stocked with 0.5 lakh hatchery-produced s...

One year grow‐out evaluation of four cropping patterns of carps, viz. control: single stock single harvest (SSSH); T‐1:intercrop of minor carps and Indian major carps (IMC); T‐2:single stock multiple harvests (SSMH); and T‐3:multiple stock multiple harvests (MSMH) was conducted in eight earthen ponds (0.09 ha each). Ponds were stocked with three IM...

The present article describes about the broodstock development, induced breeding, and seed production of the Mahanadi rita, Rita chrysea, a medium-sized catfish, of the bagridae family under captive conditions. Juvenile fish collected from the Mahanadi river and raised to broodstock in the captivity and successfully breed in captive condition for t...

Compatibility of pacu, Piaractus brachypomus with Indian major carps was evaluated in grow-out carp polyculture system for 4 months in 12 large concrete tanks. Four different species combinations were evaluated i.e., control: catla (Catla catla), rohu (Labeo rohita) and mrigal (Cirrhinus mrigala); T1: rohu, mrigal and pacu (P. brachypomus); T2: cat...

he effects of different feeding regimes on larval growth and survival of pengba, Osteobrama belangeri were investigated. Experiment was conducted for 25 days in fifteen FRP tanks filled with 50 L of water and larvae were stocked @ 2/litre. Larvae were fed with five different experimental diets varying on the type of food (Zooplankton, Groundnut oi...

Nursery evaluation of catla spawn was carried out by feeding three iso-nitrogenous diets (35% protein in raw and cooked form) for a period of 30 days. The three test diets (treatments) in raw form were: T1 - groundnut oil cake (GOC) + rice bran (RB) + vitamin-mineral (V-M) premix; T2 - GOC+RB+fish meal (FM) + V-M premix, T3 - GOC+RB+prawn meal (PM)...

Systomus sarana (Hamilton, 1822) (weight; 370 g; length: 29.0 cm ) obtained from a carp polyculture pond revealed presence of a solid nodular tumorous mass on right dorso-lateral side of the body. Surgical excision and further histopathological examination of the focal non-invasive mass revealed that the tumor is a fibroma covered by thick stratifi...

Species diversification in aquaculture is becoming a thrust area for research and extension in India with the concern of exploiting additional opportunity of managing available extensive indigenous fish resources. The present study is based on an adaptive Trial at farmer's field conducted by Krishi Vigyan Kendra-Khordha, the farm science centre on...

Species diversification in aquaculture is becoming a thrust area for research and extension in India with the concern of exploiting additional opportunity of managing available extensive indigenous fish resources. The present study is based on an adaptive Trial at farmer's field conducted by Krishi Vigyan Kendra-Khordha, the farm science centre on...

Rohu Labeo rohita juveniles stunted for 2, 4, 6, 8 10 and 12 months at 20 and 40 m−3 densities were subsequently cultured for 1 year in six grow-out earthen ponds each 0.09 ha. Each pond was stocked with juveniles stunted for a particular duration (treatment) at a combined density of 8,000 ha−1 from two density groups at a 1:1 ratio. Electronic tag...

An year long experimental multi-species farming of Indian major carps (IMC) and minor carps was conducted with varied stocking densities in 15 earthen ponds (0.08 ha) to develop a suitable farming model. The IMC group included Catla catla, Labeo rohita and Cirrhinus mrigala at 35:40:25 ratio while minor carp and barb (MCB) group included Puntius go...

An year long experimental multi-species farming of Indian major carps (IMC) and minor carps was conducted with varied stocking densities in 15 earthen ponds (0.08 ha) to develop a suitable farming model. The IMC group included Catla catla, Labeo rohita and Cirrhinus mrigala at 35:40:25 ratio while minor carp and barb (MCB) group included Puntius go...

Rearing of olive barb spawn at high stocking density (2400 m-2) was carried out for one month in large concrete seed rearing tanks having soil base. The spawn were fed with three feed combinations (treatments) namely, T1: groundnut oil cake + rice bran at 1:1, T2 : ground nut oil cake + rice bran + fish meal at 40:40:20 and T3 : Soyamilk + egg cust...

Rearing of rohu spawn to fry size was carried out at high density (2000 spawn m−2) in large concrete nursery tanks (10 m × 5 m × 1.2 m) to standardize the daily ration of supplementary feed and to assess the impact of soil base on the fry performance. In Set-1, supplementary feed was provided at 100% (control), 75% and 50% of the daily ration that...

Changes in water quality parameters during closed system transport of Labeo rohita fry were studied to identify the critical changes responsible for seed mortality. Fry of L. rohita (2.38 +/- 0.25 g, 44.2 +/- 6.6 mm) were packed in 39 polythene bags and placed on a continuously shaking platform. Water quality changes and fish mortality in the packs...

Growth performance and compatibility of Labeo fimbriatus were studied in a yearlong experimental trial of grow - out carp polyculture in earthen ponds. At a combined stocking density of 7500 fingerlings ha(-1), the three different species combinations evaluated were: T1 (Control): catla, silver carp, rohu and mrigal at 0.5:0.5:1:1; T2: catla, silve...

Abstract Labeo fimbriatus, a medium sized carp is assessed as a commercially important aquaculture species in Indian subcontinent. In the present study, the genetic diversity and population structure of four Indian riverine populations of L. fimbriatus have been evaluated using partial cytochrome b sequences of mitochondrial DNA. Sequencing and ana...

Growth performance of kuria labeo, Labeo gonius as a component species in the major carp polyculture system was evaluated at two incorporation levels against a control without the species through a year-round grow-out study in nine earthen ponds (0.08 ha). Three species ratio of catla, silver carp, rohu, mrigal and kuria labeo at 15:15:40:30:0 (T-1...

The carcass traits and commercial characteristics of farmed freshwater Cirrhinus mrigala and Hypophthalmichthys molitrix were investigated to calculate yield data useful for programming semi-automated processing units. Specimens with average weights of 2500 and 3400 g were collected from both mrigal and silver carps, respectively. Samples were take...

The present study investigates carcass traits of farmed freshwater Catla catla for important information in calculating yield and/or providing data for programming machine/manual handling. For this purpose specimens of C. catla ranging from 1880 to 2150 g were collected from grow‐out culture ponds of the Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture,...

Carcass and commercial yield traits of Pangasius pangasius were evaluated and morphometric parameters measured along with carcass traits in two marketable weight classes (average ± SD) 1603 ± 49.5 g and 1985.6 ± 56.6 g. The Pangas fish head yield was 14.80% and 15.1% for the 2000 g and 1600 g weight classes, respectively. The offal percentage varie...

This paper presents the consumptive water use for freshwater pond aquaculture for semi-intensive carps farming practices. The consump-tive use of water includes evaporation loss, see-page loss and water exchanges requirements. The water requirement has been estimated to be 10.3 m 3 /Kg of fish production under present study for semi-intensive cultu...

The fringe lipped peninsula carp, Labeo fimbriatus, is native to lower peninsular region of India. It is a commercially important species widely fished and consumed throughout much of the tropical and subtropical region of south India. Knowledge of genetic diversity of this species is important to support management and conservation programmes whic...

Labeo fimbriatus, the fringe-lipped peninsula carp, is a commercially important fish species next to Indian major carps. We isolated and characterized polymorphic microsatellite markers to be used as a tool for delineation of genetic stock of this species. Partial genomic libraries enriched for CT and GT repeat motifs generated 103 positive clones...

The present study was carried out to investigate the carcass traits of farmed freshwater Labeo rohita in relation to body size as important information to calculate yield and/or support for machine/manual processing. For this purpose ninety specimens were collected for nine weight groups from 600 to 1100 g, each group with a 100 g increment. Specim...

Complete nucleotide sequence of mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of the Catla catla (Ostariophysi: Cypriniformes: Cyprinidae) was determined in the present study. Its length is 16,594 bp and contains 13 protein coding genes, 22 transfer RNAs, two ribosomal RNAs and one non-coding control region. Most of the genes were encoded on the H-strand, whil...

The complete mitochondrial genome of Labeo rohita, an important cultivable fish, was determined for the first time. The genome is 16,611 bp in length and consists of 13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNA genes, 2 rRNA genes, and one control region. The gene organisation and its order were similar to other vertebrates. The overall base composition on hea...

Impact of aeration on growth of silver barb, Puntius gonionotus during fingerling rearing was studied through a 100‐d rearing experiment conducted in 18 concrete tanks of 50 m2 (10 × 5 × 1.2 m) size. Fry (0.74 ± 0.27 g, 35 ± 6 mm) were stocked in the experimental tanks at three stocking densities (25, 50, and 75 fry/m2) and were evaluated with and...

A grow-out monoculture experiment for rohu, Labeo rohita was conducted for1year in nine earthen ponds of 0.04 ha each to study the impact of varied frequency of nitrogen fertilization on ¢sh growth. Ponds were stocked at 8000 ¢ngerlings ha À 1 density. While ponds were applied with cattle manure and phosphate fertilizer at conventional dosages foll...

Fingerling rearing of two minor carps fringe-lipped carp (Labeo fimbriatus), kuria labeo (Labeo gonius) and silver barb (Puntius gonionotus) along with the Indian major carp rohu (Labeo rohita) was carried out in outdoor concrete seed rearing system for 90days at four densities viz., 10, 20, 30 and 40m−2 to evaluate their relative growth performanc...

A year-long grow-out carp polyculture trial was conducted in nine earthen ponds to study the growth performance of Kuria labeo (Labeo gonius) with the different major carps such as catla (Catla catla), silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix), rohu (Labeo rohita) and mrigal (Cirrhinus mrigala). Suitable water quality parameters were maintained in...

A feeding experiment was conducted in 40-L tanks each stocked with four fry of olive barb (2.05 ± 0.22 g). Dead notonectids (T1), live notonectids (T2), co-feeding of live notonectids and prepared diet (T3), prepared diet (T4), and plankton concentrate (T5) were fed ad libitum as the five treatments, each maintained with four replications. Proximat...

Yard and pond applications of cube root powder (CRP) at 2.5 mg L−1 and bleaching powder (BP) at 10 mg L−1 Cl− produced total fish kill within 14–24 h. Safe periods for stocking fingerling and fry of carps were on 8th and 11th day following CRP application against 4th day for BP. Pond chlorophyll concentrations did not change with CRP application, b...

Physiological changes associated with rotenone toxicity in fish was studied by exposing stinging catfish, Heteropneustes fossilis to 1/50, 1/10 and 1/2 sub-lethal concentrations of 48 h LC 50 , i.e., 0.004, 0.021 and 0.107 mg l -l of rotenone, respectively. The haematological and enzymatic parameters studied in general showed dose-dependant changes...

Toxicity of rotenone was studied in a few common freshwater predatory and weed fishes through wet laboratory experiments for its use as a piscicide during pond preparation. Cube root powder (CRP) (ENT-133 Rotenone) containing 9% rotenone was used as the toxicant source. Lethal concentration of CRP for these common predatory and weed fishes varied b...

Impact of varied durations of aeration on growth, survival and production performances of catla (Catla catla), rohu (Labeo rohita), fringe lipped carp (Labeo fimbriatus) and olive barb (Puntius sarana) were evaluated in outdoor concrete tanks (10 m×5 m×1.3 m) during fingerlings rearing. At a combined stocking density of 0.5 million fry/ha, provisio...

The compatibility of olive barb, Puntius sarana (Hamilton) with major carps was studied in grow-out carp polyculture system for one year in a set of nine earthen ponds of 0.08 ha each. Three different species combinations evaluated were Control: catla (Catla catla Ham.), silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix Valenciennes), rohu (Labeo rohita Ham...

Rice-fish farming technology was demonstrated in two rainfed lowland farms of Orissa, India. Carps and freshwater prawn were grown with rice during the wet season, while crops like, watermelon, pulses, oil seed and vegetables were cultivated after rice in the dry season. The available dyke area was used for production of vegetables and fruit crops...

The compatibility and growth performance of silver barb Puntius gonionotus (Barbonymous gonionotus) with the three Indian major carps, i.e., Catla catla, Labeo rohita and Cirrhinus mrigala, were assessed in a 10-month carp polyculture trial. Treatments T-1, T-2, T-3 and T-4 were stocked with three of the above four carp species, with an absence of...

A 75 day fingerling rearing experiment of olive barb along with rohu and mrigal was conducted in concrete tanks of 50 m2 each to evaluate the compatibility and growth performance of the species. Combinations of rohu–mrigal (T-1), olive barb–rohu (T-2) and olive barb–mrigal (T-3) were the treatments evaluated in four replicates. Survival of rohu, mr...

Inclusion of kalbasu, Labeo calbasu as a candidate species in the Indian major carps based polyculture system was evaluated through a six-month grow-out trial in earthen ponds of 0.08 ha each. Species performance was assessed through provision of varied inputs viz., fertilizers (T-1), fertilizers + supplementary feed (T-2) and fertilizers + supplem...

The growth and survival of kalbasu, Labeo calbasu, was evaluated at stocking densities of 5, 10 and 15 million spawn ha(-1) in nursery rearing in concrete tanks of 50 m(2), each for a period of 25 days. Survival of fry was density dependent and significantly higher (54.5%) at 5 million ha(-1) than those at 10 million ha(-1) (50.1%) and 15 million h...

The effect of water pH on certain haematological parameters was studied in the three species of Indian major carps, catla (Catla catla), rohu (Labeo rohita) and mrigal (Cirrhinus mrigala) for 21 days by subjecting fingerlings of these fishes to acidic (pH 5.5, 6.5) and alkaline (pH 8.0, 8.5 and 9.0) water, control groups were maintained at neutral...

Changes in water parameters were studied in a yard experiment for 7 weeks after application of cow dung at 20, 50 and 100 t ha−1, poultry manure at 4, 10 and 20 t ha−1, feed mixture (groundnut oil cake and rice bran at 1:1) at 10, 20 and 30 t ha−1 and inorganic fertilizers at 100 kg urea+50 kg single super phosphate (SSP) ha−1, twice this dose (2x...

A sub-lethal nitrite toxicity trial was conducted using static conditions for a period of 96 h with fingerlings of Catla catla (21.4±3.6 g). Fingerlings were exposed to five concentrations of nitrite, that is, 1, 2, 4, 8 and 10.4 mg L−1 and a nitrite-free control to study changes in haematological parameters. Nitrite caused an increase in immature...

The acute toxicity and primary stress effect of the sub-lethal concentrations of nitrite (NO2−) on certain haematological parameters were studied in static bioassay systems in fingerlings of mrigal, Cirrhinus mrigala (Ham.), a species of major importance for aquaculture in India. The 96-h LC50 was 10.4 mg l−1. In sub-lethal test, the changes in the...

The effects of 96-h sublethal exposure of nitrite (1, 2, 4, 8 and 10.4 mg l(-1)) on selected enzymatic activities in serum and tissues of fingerlings of catla (Catla catla), rohu (Labeo rohita) and mrigal (Cirrhinus mrigala) were studied for the first time in these species. All three species responded almost identically to nitrite exposure. With in...

A comprehensive acute toxicity trial was conducted using a static water system to study the toxic effect of ammonia on haematology and enzyme profiles of Cirrhinus mrigala H. The LC50 of total ammonia-nitrogen (TAN) was 11.8 mg L−1 TAN (1.029 mg L−1 NH3-N). The sub-lethal test revealed that with increasing concentration of TAN, the total erythrocyt...

Changes in hematology of fingerlings of Labeo rohita exposed to 0, 1, 2, 4, 8 and 10.4 mg/l nitrite-nitrogen was studied for a period of 96 hours. Immature erythrocytes count, after 96 hours, increased with increasing concentration up to 4 mg/l followed by reduction to complete absence in 8-10.4 mg/l. Total erythrocyte count reduced at 6 hour after...

Histopathological changes associated with ammonia toxicity were studied in fingerlings of Catla catla, Labeo rohita and Cirrhinus mrigala. The fingerlings of each species were exposed to increased sub-lethal concentrations, viz., 1, 2, 4, 8, 11.8 and 16 mg/l] of total ammonia nitrogen (TAN) and the toxic effects were studied through histology of gi...