Effect of Continuous Water Movement on Growth and Body Composition of Juvenile Rabbitfish, Siganus rivulatus

摘要

Marbled spinefoot rabbitfish, Siganus rivulatus, is a euryhaline, herbivorous marine fish widely distributed along the Eastern Mediterranean and Indo-West Pacific region (Woodland 1983). Marbled spinefoot typically lives in schools inhabiting shallow coastal waters and can reach a size of 31.9 cm and 318.2 g in length and body weight, respectively (Bariche 2005). It is an economically valuable fishery species and is considered of great potential for warmwater aquaculture diversification (Saoud et al. 2008a, 2008b). Aquaculture suitability of the species lies in its herbivorous feeding habits, tolerance of high-stocking conditions and environmental extremes such as salinity (Saoud et al. 2007) and temperature (Saoud et al. 2008a). Farming of the marbled spinefoot, generally in floating cages or self-cleaning circular tanks is rapidly developing in some countries (Cyprus, Saudi Arabia) but efficiency is constrained due to the paucity of information on protocols for commercial production and lack of information for design of fish culture systems.