Assessment of compensatory growth in stunted fingerlings of Snubnose pompano, Trachinotus blochii (Lacepede, 1801), in marine conditions

• Published in: Aquaculture Research
• Main Authors: Anikuttan, K K, Jayakumar, R, Suresh Babu, P P, Nazar, A K A, Tamilmani, G, Sakthivel, M, Ramesh Kumar, P, Sankar, M, Krishnaveni, N, Thomas, Tinto, Rao, G Hanumanta, Anuraj, A, Ignatius, Boby, Imelda, Joseph
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2021
• Subjects: age and growth; Aquaculture; Ruan; atlantic cod; Alaska
• Online Access: http://eprints.cmfri.org.in/15202/; http://eprints.cmfri.org.in/15202/1/Aquaculture%20Research_2021_Anikuttan%20K%20K.pdf; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/are.14879; https://doi.org/10.1111/are.14879

Compensatory growth has been reported in stunted fish by several researchers, and the same has been applied at field level for enhancing the fish production. Many of the commercially important marine finfishes such as European seabass (Adakli & Tasbozan, 2015), Gilthead sea bream (Bavcevic, Klanjscek, Karamarko, Anicic, & Legovic, 2010), Atlantic halibut (Foss et al., 2009), Atlantic cod (Jobling, Meloey, Santos, & Christiansen, 1994) and Alaska yellowfin sole (Paul, Paul, & Smith, 1995) have exhibited compensatory growth after stunting. Hyperphagia in stunted fish has been successfully applied for growth enhancement (Charan, Suresh Babu, Venugopal, Chadha, & Sreeramamurthy, 2014; Limbue & Jumanne, 2014), better feed utilization (Morshedi, Kochanian, Ahmadi-Niko, Azodi, & Pasha-Zanoosi, 2013; Ruan et al., 2015) and also to tide over unfavourable environmental conditions (Cho & Cho, 2009). Snubnose pompano, Trachinotus blochii, is a potential candidate species for mariculture as its seed production technology has been standardized, possess good market demand and it readily accepts pellet feed (Abdul Nazar et al., 2012; Jayakumar et al., 2014; Kalidas et al., 2012). Even though the fish fetches better price in the market, the culture duration to attain marketable size needs to be reduced to improve economic benefits in the farming facilities such as ponds, cages and recirculating aquaculture systems. One proven approach to reduce the culture duration is to use stunted fingerlings as the stocking material, which is widely being practised in many farming systems (Bavcevic et al., 2010; Charan et al., 2014; Radheshyam & Saha, 2009; Santiago, Gonzal, Aralar, & Arcilla, 2004; Tian & Qin, 2003). Compensatory growth pattern varies from species to species and depends on the mode of growth deprivation. Ali, Nicieza, and Wootton, (2003) have summarized different pattern of compensatory growth in various fish. However, studies on compensatory growth pattern in stunted Snubnose pompano in marine conditions have not been reported so far. The present study was carried out to assess and delineate the compensatory growth pattern in T. blochii at varying stunting durations. Snubnose pompano fingerlings (<5 g size) produced at the marine finfish hatchery of Mandapam Regional Centre of ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Mandapam, Tamil Nadu, India, were used for the experiment. The fingerlings were produced through captive breeding as per Abdul Nazar et al. (2012). Briefly, the eggs obtained after induced spawning were transferred to hatching tanks and larval rearing was carried out in Fibre Reinforced Plastic (FRP) tanks. Larvae were fed on rotifers (Brachionus rotundiformis and B plicatilis) followed by Artemia nauplii under green water technique. Weaning to artificial feed commenced from 15-day posthatch (DPH) and larval metamorphosis occurred during 20–25 DPH. Nursery rearing of the fingerlings was carried out in FRP tanks by feeding with commercial pellet feed (Nutrila, Growel India Pvt. Ltd; 45% crude protein; 0.8 mm size).