Survival and growth of tilapia zillii and oreochromis urolepis urolepis (Order perciformes; Family cichlidae) in seawater
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Date
2014
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Western Indian Ocean J. Mar. Sci
Abstract
The potential for Tilapia zillii and Oreochromis urolepis urolepis
culture in seawater was evaluated by determining their survival and growth in
seawater at 35‰. Fingerlings were collected from Pangani River using seine
nets and reared in 1 m 3 concrete ponds after acclimatization from salinity of
2‰ to 35‰. Fingerlings were also reared in freshwater as controls. Fingerlings
were fed twice daily using commercial fish feeds (White Rose floating pellets),
initially at a rate of 5% of their total body weight (TBW) and 10% of their TBW
after two weeks. Their growth rate (length and weight) was recorded weekly
except controls for handling, their growth being recorded at the beginning
and end of the experiment. The average weight gain (g.week -1 ), percentage
weights gain (week -1 ) and specific growth rate (SGR, %.day -1 ) were determined
in freshwater and seawater. There was no significance difference (p >0.05) in
the SGR between the two species in seawater. The survival rates of O. urolepis
urolepis were 100% in freshwater and seawater and 89% and 96% respectively
for T. zillii. This study showed that T. zillii and O. urolepis urolepis can survive
and grow in seawater but the former is a better candidate for mariculture.
Description
Journal article
Keywords
Tilapia, Oreochromis, Survival, Growth, Freshwater, Seawater