Effect of stocking density on growth and survival of the African catfish Chrysichthys nigrodigitatus, Claroteidae (Lacépède 1803) larvae in circular tanks

摘要

nbsp;Theeffectofstockingdensityongrowth,survivalofthelarvaeoftheAfricancatfishChrysichthysnigrodigitatuswasstudied.Theexperimentwasconductedincirculartanksduring28days.Seven-days-oldlarvaewerestockedinto1000-Ltankscontaining500Lofwater(20cmdepth)atfivedensities5larvae/L(D5),6larvae/L(D6),7larvae/L(D7),8larvae/L(D8),and9larvae/L(D9).Alllarvaewerefedwitha45%crudeproteinfeedat10%oftotalbiomassthreetimesdaily.nbsp;Theresultsshowedthatmeanbodyweight,meantotallength,specificgrowthrate,bodyweightcoefficientofvariation,andconditionfactorwerestockingdensitydependent.ThebestgrowthperformanceswererecordedinD5andD6.Howeversurvivalratesweresimilarinallstockingdensitiesandrangedfrom86.77±1.39%to95.91±1.61%.Hence,themostsuitablestockingdensityforrearingofChrysichthysnigrodigitatuslarvaeintanksis6larvae/L(D6).