Cobia culture in low volume cages in coastal waters of Uttara Kannada, Karnataka

Cobia, Rachycentron canadum is a marine finfish globally favoured for aquaculture. In India, cage culture of cobia was first reported by ICAR-CMFRI in 2013 with better growth rate recorded under conditions of higher salinities (Philipose et al.2013). The present report is on the growth and production of cobia, Rachycentron canadum in Gangavali estuary (14o 61’ 225’’ N and 74 o35’726’’E) of coastal Karnataka during the period 2018-19

Brief note on infestation of Diplectanum sp. in Asian seabass

Recently open sea cage farming has emerged as an alternative and additional income source for fishermen and fish farmers in India. Asian seabass, Lates calcarifer is widely used in open sea cage culture due to its high market demand. In cage farming, high stocking densities and poor water quality enhance the parasite loads of the cultured fishes. In this study, 47 specimens of Asian seabass collected from cages located in Naganathwada, Sunkeri, Ankola were analysed with the aim of identifying the parasites prevalent among this species. All external and internal organs of each fish were examined separately under microscope for parasites. The collected monogenean parasites were washed in a 0.85% saline solution and fixed in 70% ethanol and identified. Most of the infected fishes had dark coloration of the body and postmortem findings revealed gills with excessive mucus secretion and sticking of the gill tips with greyish coloration

Argulus quadristriatus infestation in cage cultured Asian seabass

In Indian waters, genus Netuma is represented by two species namely N. bilineata and N. thalassina (Order: Siluriformes, Family: Ariidae). Rounded shout, thin lips, inconspicuous median longitudinal groove, and higher anal fin ray count (16-19) are characters of N. bilineata while N. thalassina has conical snout, clearly visible median longitudinal groove and lower anal fin ray count (13-15). Prior to the erection of N. bilineata (earlier considered as synonym of N. thalassina) as valid species, Indian workers had difference of opinion regarding the representation of species under this genus from Indian waters

First report on induced spawning of Siganus vermiculatus in India

Siganids are widely distributed to Indo-West Pacific region and the Siganus vermiculatus (Maze rabbit fish/Vermiculated spinefoot) can reach sizes that weigh up 2.3 kg each. It is a species of great aquaculture importance and hence breeding and seed production protocols are necessary. A major breakthrough in the seed production of Siganus vermiculatus by inducing the fishes to spawn under controlled conditions with Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG) during the first quarter of the lunar cycle is reported. The hatchery processes and early larval stages are described

Successful demonstration of compensatory growth in silver pompano in coastal fish farmer’s cage at Uppunda, Karnataka

Compensatory growth (CG) in fish is a growth stage of improved growth when favourable conditions are restored, after a period of growth deprivation or stunting. Such growth deprived fingerlings are considered as ideal stocking material for fish farming due to several advantages. Stunted fingerling production is proven to ensure prolonged seed availability, especially during off seasons, production of healthy and hardy fingerlings with higher survival, and to help to maintain fish seed in transportable size

Community development of fisherfolk at Nagnathwada, Karwar through open water cage culture: A success story

Fisherfolk from Nagnathwada, Karwar were trained to take up open water cage culture in Kali estuary. Karnataka. Demonstration of Asian seabass farming in fixed cage and box type floating cage were carried out initially for technology dissemination. After attaining confidence, open water cage culture was taken up in commercial scale by the fisherfolk with the technical support from ICAR-CMFRI and financial assistance from National Fisheries Development Board, Hyderabad. Fisherfolk benefited from the cage farming and are continuing the activities for better livelihood. holothurians and sea urchins

Multivariate time-series analysis of biomarkers from a dengue cohort offers new approaches for diagnosis and prognosis

Dengue is a major public health problem worldwide with distinct clinical manifestations: an acute presentation (dengue fever, DF) similar to other febrile illnesses (OFI) and a more severe, life-threatening form (severe dengue, SD). Due to nonspecific clinical presentation during the early phase of dengue infection, differentiating DF from OFI has remained a chal-lenge, and current methods to determine severity of dengue remain poor early predictors. We present a prospective clinical cohort study conducted in Caracas, Venezuela from 2001–2005, designed to determine whether clinical and hematological parameters could distinguish DF from OFI, and identify early prognostic biomarkers of SD. From 204 enrolled suspected dengue patients, there were 111 confirmed dengue cases. Piecewise mixed effects regression and nonparametric statistics were used to analyze longitudinal records. Decreased serum albumin and fibrinogen along with increased D-dimer, thrombin-anti-thrombin complex, activated partial thromboplastin time and thrombin time were prognostic of SD on the day of defervescence. In the febrile phase, the day-to-day rates of change in serum albumin and fibrinogen concentration, along with platelet counts, were significantly decreased in dengue patients compared to OFI, while the day-to-day rates of change of lym-phocytes (%) and thrombin time were increased. In dengue patients, the absolute lympho-cytes to neutrophils ratio showed specific temporal increase, enabling classification of dengue patients entering the critical phase with an area under the ROC curve of 0.79. Secondary dengue patients had elongation of Thrombin time compared to primary cases while the D-dimer formation (fibrinolysis marker) remained always lower for secondary compared to primary cases. Based on partial analysis of 31 viral complete genomes, a high frequency of C-to-T transitions located at the third codon position was observed, suggesting deamina-tion events with five major hot spots of amino acid polymorphic sites outside in non-structural proteins. No association of severe outcome was statistically significant for any of the five major polymorphic sites found. This study offers an improved understanding of dengue hemostasis and a novel way of approaching dengue diagnosis and disease prognosis using piecewise mixed effect regression modeling. It also suggests that a better discrimination of the day of disease can improve the diagnostic and prognostic classification power of clinical variables using ROC curve analysis. The piecewise mixed effect regression model corroborated key early clinical determinants of disease, and offers a time-series approach for future vaccine and pathogenesis clinical studies

Report on crested hair tail Tentoriceps cristatus (Trichiuridae) from Goa

A single specimen of ribbon fish Tentoriceps cristatus (Klunzinger, 1884), commonly called the crested hair tail, was landed in Cotbona jetty, South Goa on 26th November 2021. The specimen was collected from a mechanized purse seiner which operated at a depth of 60-80 meters off west of Cotbona

Report on Amyloodinium spp. cysts infection in clownfish

A study was undertaken to record the occurrence of parasitic infections in ocellaris clownfish, Amphiprion ocellaris. Of a total eight A. ocellaris maintained in hatchery, three were found infected with different developmental stages of Amyloodinium spp. and were kept under observation

Biological aspects of the Indo-Pacific sergeant Abudefduf vaigiensis (Quoy and Gaimard, 1825) from Gulf of Mannar, Tamil Nadu, India

Food and feeding habits of the commercially important marine ornamental fish Abudefduf vaigiensis from the Gulf of Mannar were evaluated. Analysis of gut contents indicated that A. vaigiensis is an omnivorous fish, feeding on any available food item in its environment, such as seaweeds, cladocerans, copepods and insects. Most of the sampled fishes had either quarter-full or half-full or three-fourth full stomachs. The index of preponderance indicated seaweeds as the preferred food item among majority of length classes except for those falling within the 80-89 and 100-109 length classes, in which a preference towards copepods was observed. On a monthly basis, seaweed Spongomorpha sp. emerged as the predominant food item. Gastro-somatic index (GaSI) for males recorded the highest value in July (1.20) and lowest (0.36) in November, while that of females recorded the highest value in July (0.95) and lowest value (0.47) in January. Hepato-somatic index (HSI) of females recorded the highest in December (2.01) and lowest in July (0.83), while that of males recorded the highest value in January (1.25) and lowest in September (0.81). Gonadosomatic index (GSI) in females recorded maximum in February (4.23) and lowest in June (1.32) while that of males recorded the highest value in February (0.85) and lowest value in July (0.35). The results of the study indicate that adopting seasonal regulatory measures is essential for sustainable exploitation of the species, since their trade relies on wild collection. The study also revealed a negative correlation between the feeding patterns of these fish and their reproductive development