Preliminary Observations on the Pond Culture of Meagre, Argyrosomus regius (Asso, 1801) (Sciaenidae) in Egypt

摘要

The present study was carried out to assess the potential of the meagre, Argyrosomus regius for brackish-water pond aquaculture without supplementary feeding in the Mediterranean area near Damietta City, Egypt during June, 2004 to July, 2005. Fingerlings A. regius of mean length 11.92 cm and 17.7 g weight were stocked in brackish-water pond measuring 10 feddans and 1.25 m deep. Stocking was done at a rate of 2000 fish feddan1 in a polyculture system including tilapia and sardine and fed mainly on natural occurring prey (natural spawned tilapia) and small shrimp. At the end of the culture period, the gross weight of the harvested meagre was measured and the net pond production calculated by the difference between weight stocked and weight harvested. Temperature varied from 14.8 to 32.4?°C; pH, 7.1 to 8.3; Dissolved Oxygen (DO), 5.8 to 8.2 mg L1 and salinity, 18.2 to 5.5 psu during the study. Meagre, A. regius attained a length ranges 26.2 to 35.8 cm with an average 29.3 cm fish1 and weight ranges 887 to 1370 g with an average of 1014 g fish1 at harvest with an increment of 996.3 g fish1 and a daily gain of 2.55 g fish1. Survival rate ranged from 84% and net production was 1668.1 kg feddan1. This experiment demonstrated the possibility of cultivation of A. regius as well as the higher commercial value where better net return (23163 LE feddan1) was recorded with investment return of 3.09/1.0 LE cost. The results of the study indicated meagre as a promising candidate for the brackish water pond aquaculture.