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42 Ju N e 2010
Giant murrel farming, an urgent
need for Indian fish farmers
M.a. ha n i F F a ,1 M. ja M e s Mi L t o n , y. an a n t h Ku M a r , s.v. ar u n si n G h
a n d r. ar t h i Ma n j u
Among air breathing shes, murrels constitute a unique
group of food shes fetching high market value because of
their taste, few intramuscular spines and medicinal value
(Haniffa et al 2004). Murrels are air breathers and survive
in oxygen depleted water bodies; hence, they are suitable for
protable culture in shallow systems. In as much as the head
resembles that of snakes they are termed snakeheads. About
28-30 Channa species have been reported in the global sce-
nario and 8-10 species occur in India (Table 1). As a result
of anthropogenic stresses, murrels are under threat and, ac-
cording to CAMP (1998), captive breeding and river ranch-
ing are urgently needed for conservation of threatened na-
tive sh species.
The giant murrel, Channa marulius, the striped murrel,
C. striatus and the red line murrel, C. micropeltes, are widely
preferred in India as well as Southeast Asia because of their
large size as food shes (Ng and Lim 1990). When compared
to the striped murrel, the giant murrel is fast growing and
reaches a maximum size of 5.3 kg with longevity ranging
from 5-9 years (Parameswaran 1975). There are reports
from Nepal for a maximum length of 2.5 m and weight of
Table 1. Channa species and categories of threat in Indian rivers and reservoirs (IUCN 1994, CAMP 1998).
S. No Species Name Reference Country Status Purpose
1 Channa amphibeus (Chel or Borna McClelland 1845 India Food
snake head) /Ornamental
2 Channa barca (barca or tiger snakehead) Hamilton 1822 India
3 Channa bleheri (rainbow or jewel Vierke 1991 India Ornamental
snakehead)
4 Channa gachua (dwarf, gacha or frog) Hamilton 1822 India Vulnerable Ornamental
5 Channa marulius (bullseye, murrel, Hamilton 1822 India Lower Risk- Near
snakehead) Threatened Food fish
6 Channa micropeltes (giant or red) Cuvier 1831 India Critically endangered Food fish
7 Channa orientalis (Ceylon or ceylones) Schneider 1801 India Vulnerable Ornamental
8 Channa punctata (dotted or spotted Bloch 1793 India Lower Risk – Near
snakehead) Threatened Food fish
9 Channa stewarti (golden snakehead) Playfair 1867 India Ornamental
10 Channa striata (chevron or striped Bloch 1797 India Lower Risk – Least
snakehead) Concern Food fish
Giant murrel - Channa marulius
15 kg for C. marulius. The giant murrel is widely distributed
in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Burma, China
and Thailand. In India it inhabits freshwater in almost all
the states, including West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya
Wo r l d Aq u A c u l t u r e 43
Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Orissa, Assam, Andhra Pradesh,
Tamilnadu, Kerala and Karnataka (Chakrabarthy 2006).
Murrel culture is about four decades old in our country
with the rst demonstration on the Madras Sunkesula sh
farm (now in AP) by the State Fisheries Department. Fur-
ther attempts made by the State Fisheries Department of
Hyderabad and Bombay and CIFRI Bhadra Centre (Kar-
nataka) have not produced tangible results. Fish farmers in
India are unable to culture murrels because of non-availabil-
ity of ngerlings and lack of feeding and culture techniques.
Fish farmers who have attempted murrel farming have not
succeeded because they have sustained severe mortality from
Epizootic Ulcerative Syndrome (EUS).
Even though giant murrel culture has a wider scope, it
has not yet become popular for various reasons. Fish farm-
ers in India are not familiar with brood sh nutrition, n-
gerling production, larval rearing and growout culture. In
other words ngerlings and feed are the two major problems
in murrel farming. The latter is not yet standardized because
murrels are carnivorous, piscivorous and cannibalistic. A
technology package for striped murrel culture was devel-
oped by the CARE research team with nancial assistance
from the Department of Science and Technology, New Del-
hi, Government of India (SSP/RD/001/96). The technology
developed was successfully transferred to sh farmers with
assistance from Department of Biotechnology, New Delhi,
Government of India (BT/PR1892/SPD/16/137/2000) by the
research team of the Center for Aquaculture Research and
Striped murrel - Channa striatus
Extension. To popularize giant murrel culture among sh
farmers, the CARE research team collected giant murrel n-
gerlings from Bhavanisagar reservoir, with assistance from
shermen using dragnets. The ngerlings were transported
to the CARE Aquafarm using plastic containers. They were
reared in cement tanks, 4.5 m×4 m×2 m, for a period of one
week during which they were fed beef liver and semi-moist
feed dough (Table 2).
After one week, 200 uniform sized ngerlings were se-
44 Ju N e 2010
Table 2. Biochemical composition of semi moist
dough. Values are reported as percentage
of body weight.
Ingredient Protein Carbohydrate Fat
Anchovy 50 4.9 7.2
Chicken intestine 62 5.2 10.8
Soy flour 52 32 1
Wheat flour 12 65 1.5
Tapioca flour 10 60 1.3
Red line mur-
rel - Channa
micropeltes
After six months, the pond was completely drained and
all the murrels were harvested and measured for length and
weight. No dead sh was observed during the culture period
and we suggest that cannibalism was avoided because equal
size ngerlings were introduced and food was supplied ad
libitum.
In the present study, C. marulius increased from 8 cm and
5 g in the rst month to 34 cm and 280 g after six months of
culture (Table 3). In Bangalore under excellent forage condi-
tions C. marulius attained a size of 45 cm in derelict tanks
in 7 months (Murugesan et al. 1978). Devaraj (1973) studied
the length-weight relationship of C.marulius in Bhavanisa-
gar reservoir. In a study on the length-weight relationship of
C. marulius between CARE-cultured and Bhavanisagar-cap-
tured sh, Devaraj (1973) showed that C. marulius cultured
at the CARE Aquafarm attained 83 percent better growth
(R²= 0.8325) than the captured sh (70 percent; R²= 0.7032;
Figures 1 and 2). From the present study we suggest that 50
kg of giant murrel could be produced from a small earthen
pond of 75 m² within skix months (15,000kg/ ha/year). The
results of this study suggest that murrels can be cultured
more protably than carp.
Notes
1Centre for Aquaculture Research and Extension (CARE),
St.Xavier’s College (Autonomous), Palayamkottai- 627002,
TamilNadu, India. E-mail: haniffacare@gmail.com
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by CSIR Emeritus Scientist
Grant (No.21(0670)/07/EMR-II) to Dr.M.A.Haniffa. We
are grateful to Rev. Dr. Alphonse Manickam, S.J., Principal,
St. Xavier’s College, Palayamkottai for providing necessary
facilities.
References
CAMP (Conservation Assessment and Management Plan). 1998.
Report of the Workshop on Conservation Assessment and
EUS affected murrel
Fingerlings of giant murrel
lected (length = 8.05 ± 0.52cm, weight = 5.08 ± 0.26g) were
introduced into a culture pond. The culture pond was rect-
angular (15 m×5 m) 1 m deep. All four sides were covered
with cement, whereas the bottom was lled with clay to
a depth of 25 cm. Cow manure and lime were added one
week before the introduction of the ngerlings. To adjust
for water loss from seepage and evaporation, water was sup-
plied from a nearby bore well to maintain the water depth.
Water temperature ranged from 27-29ºC, dissolved oxygen
from 6.5-7.1 ppm, pH from 7.0-7.2, salinity was 1.77±0.005
ppt, and ammonia was measured at 0.26±0.02 mg/L during
the culture period. The ngerlings were fed semi-moist feed
dough (Table 2) along with minced chicken intestine during
the rst four months. Afterwards they were fed exclusively
on minced chicken intestine. Every month sh samples were
collected from using the drag net. Length and weight mea-
surements were recorded periodically after which the sh
were returned to the pond.
During the six month study period water was completely
drained from the pond only once, after 3 months, and all the
murrels were measured for length and weight and observed
for diseases and deformities. In our previous study with
striped murrel, we documented deformities in the thoracic
and tail regions. In this study one murrel showed a verte-
bral deformity, whereas all the other murrels were normal,
healthy and showed no signs of EUS.
Wo r l d Aq u A c u l t u r e 45
Management Plan (CAMP) for Freshwater shes of India. Zoo
Out reach Organization and NBFGR, Lucknow, India.
Chakrabarty, N.M. 2006. Murrels & murrel culture. Narendra
Publishing House, Delhi, India.
Devaraj, M. 1973. Biology of the large snakehead Ophicephalus
marulius (Ham.) in Bhavanisagar waters. Indian Journal of Fish
20:280-307.
Haniffa, M.A., K. Marimuthu, M. Nagarajan, A. Jesuarockiaraj
and D. Kumar. 2004. Breeding behaviour and parental care of
the induced bred spotted murrel Channa punctatus under cap-
tivity Current Science 8610.
IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature). 1994.
The Conservation on Biological Diversity. An explanatory
guide International Union for Conservation of Nature. Envi-
ron. Law Center of World Conservation Union.
Murugesan, V.K. and P. Kumaraiah. 1978. Some salient features of
shery of Air breathing shes in Karnataka. Proceedings. All
India Society on Ichthyology Modinagar:13-19.
Ng,P.K.L. and K.K.P.Lim. 1990. Snakehead (Pisces: Channidae)
natural history, biology and economically importance. Pages
127-152. In C.L. Ming and P.K.L. Ng, editors. Essay in Zool-
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Zoology, National University of Zoology, Singapore.
Parameswaran, S. 1975 Investigation on the biology of some shes
of the genus Channa gronovius, Ph.D. Thesis Magadh Univer-
sity, Bodh Gaya, India.
Table 3. Length and weight of C.marulius cultured
at CARE Aquafarm.
Month Length (cm) Weight (g)
1 8.05 ± 0.52 5.08 ± 0.26
2 10.5 ± 0.72 7.15 ± 0.86
3 15.7 ± 0.19 28.09 ± 0.97
4 21.3 ± 4.42 129.1 ± 6.84
5 27.6 ± 6.3 203.3 ± 4.63
6 33.9 ± 2.60 277.5 ± 3.56
Harvest of giant murrels
Fig. 1. Length-weight relationship of C.marulius cultured at
CARE Aquafarm.
Fig. 2. Length-weight relationship of C.marulius captured from
Bhavanisagar Reservoir (Devaraj 1973).
