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Impact of duration of stunting on compensatory growth and biometrics of snubnose pompano, Trachinotus blochii (Lacepede,1801) in low saline conditions

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  • ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute
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Compensatory growth (CG) pattern in snubnose pompano, Trachinotus blochii, stunted in low saline condition (< 15 ppt) was evaluated for its field level application. The fish were stunted for 30, 60 and 90 days by stocking 100 fish m− 3 providing a commercial feed (45% crude protein, 0.8 to 1.2 mm size) at sub-optimal level [3% of average body weight (ABW)]. Post-stunting rearing was carried out in triplicates for 30, 60 or 90 days at a stocking density of 20 fish m− 3 providing the same feed approximately 15% of ABW. Normal fish were maintained in triplicate at 20 fish m− 3 providing feed at optimum level (10% of ABW) throughout the experiment. Parameters such as weight gain pattern, final ABW and specific growth rate (%) per day (SGR/day) indicated near complete CG in 30 days stunted fish. A partial CG in 60 days stunted fish and no CG in 90 days stunted fish compared to corresponding normal fish was observed. The 60 days stunted fish was found ideal for field adoption with longer stunting period with better CG and survival. A field trial was conducted in circular cage by stunting the fish at 40 fish m− 3 (ABW = 5.4 g) feeding at 3% of ABW for 60 days. During post stunting, the stunted fish (10 fish m− 3) were reared in two cages feeding approximately 15% of ABW for 190 days. Parallely, normal fish (10 fish m− 3) were reared by feeding at 10% of ABW for 250 days. During stunting phase, the experimental fish exhibited a retarded growth (ABW = 18.9 g; SGR/day = 2.1) compared to normal (ABW = 27.9 ± 0.5 g; SGR/day = 2.7). In contrast, in post stunting phase, stunted fish exhibited partial CG (ABW = 116.23 ± 2.1 g; SGR/day = 0.71) compared to normal (ABW = 139.5 ± 15. 7 g; SGR/day = 0.8) with similar production (28.9 ± 1.8 g for stunted and 30.36 ± 4.3 g for normal) and higher survival (88.7%) than normal (77.5%). Biometric characteristics such as length - weight relationship (b value near 3) and condition factor (above 1) indicate natural growth in both stunted and normal fish. But size variation was higher in normal fish than stunted fish. Over all the experiments suggests that 60 days stunting in low saline conditions is ideal for ensuring good quality seed for farming of snubnose pompano.
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Thalassas: An International Journal of Marine Sciences (2022) 38:1301–1310
https://doi.org/10.1007/s41208-022-00426-4
Introduction
Quality stocking material is one of the important prerequi-
sites for cage farming. As an innovative approach, the con-
cept of compensatory growth (CG) in sh is well exploited in
aquaculture. Stunted ngerlings are used as stocking mate-
rial for farming (Cho and Cho 2009; Lingam et al. 2019;
Santiago et al. 2004). CG in sh is a phase of augmented
growth when favourable conditions are restored, after a
period of growth depression, that may be classied as over
compensation, full compensation, partial compensation and
no compensation based on the rate of recovery of the growth
P. P. Suresh Babu
sbabukkd@redimail.com
1 Karwar Regional Station of ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries
Research Institute, Baithkol, 581302 Karwar, Karnataka,
India
2 Calicut Regional Station of ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries
Research Institute, Calicut, Kerala, India
3 Mandapam Regional Centre of ICAR-Central Marine
Fisheries Research Institute, Mandapam, Tamil Nadu, India
4 Madras Regional Station of ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries
Research Institute, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
5 ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Kochi,
Kerala, India
Abstract
Compensatory growth (CG) pattern in snubnose pompano, Trachinotus blochii, stunted in low saline condition (< 15
ppt) was evaluated for its eld level application. The sh were stunted for 30, 60 and 90 days by stocking 100 sh m 3
providing a commercial feed (45% crude protein, 0.8 to 1.2 mm size) at sub-optimal level [3% of average body weight
(ABW)]. Post-stunting rearing was carried out in triplicates for 30, 60 or 90 days at a stocking density of 20 sh m 3
providing the same feed approximately 15% of ABW. Normal sh were maintained in triplicate at 20 sh m 3 providing
feed at optimum level (10% of ABW) throughout the experiment. Parameters such as weight gain pattern, nal ABW and
specic growth rate (%) per day (SGR/day) indicated near complete CG in 30 days stunted sh. A partial CG in 60 days
stunted sh and no CG in 90 days stunted sh compared to corresponding normal sh was observed. The 60 days stunted
sh was found ideal for eld adoption with longer stunting period with better CG and survival. A eld trial was conducted
in circular cage by stunting the sh at 40 sh m 3 (ABW = 5.4 g) feeding at 3% of ABW for 60 days. During post stunt-
ing, the stunted sh (10 sh m 3) were reared in two cages feeding approximately 15% of ABW for 190 days. Parallely,
normal sh (10 sh m 3) were reared by feeding at 10% of ABW for 250 days. During stunting phase, the experimental
sh exhibited a retarded growth (ABW = 18.9 g; SGR/day = 2.1) compared to normal (ABW = 27.9 ± 0.5 g; SGR/day = 2.7).
In contrast, in post stunting phase, stunted sh exhibited partial CG (ABW = 116.23 ± 2.1 g; SGR/day = 0.71) compared
to normal (ABW = 139.5 ± 15. 7 g; SGR/day = 0.8) with similar production (28.9 ± 1.8 g for stunted and 30.36 ± 4.3 g for
normal) and higher survival (88.7%) than normal (77.5%). Biometric characteristics such as length - weight relationship
(b value near 3) and condition factor (above 1) indicate natural growth in both stunted and normal sh. But size variation
was higher in normal sh than stunted sh. Over all the experiments suggests that 60 days stunting in low saline condi-
tions is ideal for ensuring good quality seed for farming of snubnose pompano.
Keywords Feeding regime · Growth metrics · Hatchery · Silver pompano · Cage
Received: 8 November 2021 / Revised: 9 March 2022 / Accepted: 12 March 2022 / Published online: 3 August 2022
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022
Impact of duration of stunting on compensatory growth and
biometrics of snubnose pompano, Trachinotus blochii (Lacepede,1801)
in low saline conditions
P. P. SureshBabu1· A.Anuraj1· J.Loka1· N. D.Praveen1· K.Srinivasa Rao1· M. T.Shilta2· K. K.Anikuttan1·
R.Jayakumar3· A. K. AbdulNazar4· I.Boby5· J.Imelda5
1 3
Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved.
... Stunted fingerlings are better stocking material for fish farming. Several studies have reported that stunted fingerling production ensures prolonged seed availability, especially during off seasons, and production of healthy and hardy fingerlings with higher survival, and also helps to maintain fish seed in transportable size (Radheysham and Saha, 2009;Das et al., 2016;Lingam et al., 2019;Suresh Babu et al., 2022a). Lingam et al. (2019) reported better growth and meat quality for stunted fish compared to normal fish in an on-farm trial for milkfish. ...
... The ability of stunted fingerlings to attain CG has been demonstrated in several commercial fishes such as Nile tilapia (Bhujel et al., 2007), rohu (Das et al., 2016), milkfish (Lingam et al., 2019), Atlantic cod (Jobling, 2010) and Atlantic salmon (Hvas et al., 2022). The CG pattern varies with species farmed (Jobling et al., 1994;Foss et al., 2009;Lingam et al., 2019), duration of stunting (Das et al., 2016;Anikuttan et al., 2020;Suresh Babu et al., 2022a), stunting protocol adopted (Ali et al., 2003), and re-feeding strategies implemented (Llameg and Serrano, 2014;Hvas et al., 2022). Won and Borski (2013) opined that endocrine regulation during the catabolic and hyper-anabolic phases contributes immensely for CG. ...
... Silver pompano, Trachinotus blochii (Lacepede, 1801), is a recently introduced marine fish for aquaculture practices in the Indian subcontinent. Ever since the standardization of its commercial hatchery production (Abdul Nazar et al., 2012), this fish is considered as a good candidate for aqua-farming in ponds (Jayakumar et al., 2014;Damodaran et al., 2019), cages (Kalidas et al., 2020;Suresh Babu et al., 2022a), and Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (Suresh Babu et al., 2022b). Furthermore, it is considered as an ideal candidate species for farming in both marine and low-saline conditions (Kalidas et al., 2012). ...
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