Asian seabass (Lates calcarifer) is a highly valued food fish of great culture potential. Nursery rearing of Asian seabass in

indoor cement tanks was undertaken. Fish were fed on artificial diets at 4% body weight and four times feeding per day

with periodical size grading. Mean weight and length at the end of the 45 days experimental period was 8.55 g and

91.03 mm, respectively. While survival rate was 100%, FCR and PER at the end of the 45 days experimental period was

1.15 and 1.07%, respectively. The results of various growth parameters studied showed that the values obtained were in

conformity with earlier reports on nursery rearing of Asian seabass under varied rearing systems and growth conditions

Philipose, K K

Rao, G Syda

Sadhu, N

Sharma, S R Krupesha

Vaidya, N G

Sadhu, Narasimhulu

CMFRI Digital Repository

61Some aspects of nursery rearing of the Asian seabass (Lates calcarifer,Bloch) in indoor cement tanksK. K. PHILIPOSE, S. R. KRUPESHA SHARMA, N. SADHU, N. G. VAIDYAAND G. SYDA RAO*Karwar Research Centre of Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Karwar - 581 301, Karnataka, India*Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Kochi - 682 018, Kerala, Indiae-mail: kkphilipose@gmail.comABSTRACTAsian seabass (Lates calcarifer) is a highly valued food fish of great culture potential. Nursery rearing of Asian seabass inindoor cement tanks was undertaken. Fish were fed on artificial diets at 4% body weight and four times feeding per daywith periodical size grading.  Mean weight and length at the end of the 45 days experimental period was 8.55 g and91.03 mm, respectively.  While survival rate was 100%, FCR and PER at the end of the 45 days experimental period was1.15 and 1.07%, respectively. The results of various growth parameters studied showed that the values obtained were inconformity with earlier reports on nursery rearing of Asian seabass under varied rearing systems and growth conditions.Keywords: Asian seabass, Lates calcarifer, Nursery rearingIntroductionAsian seabass Lates calcarifer, also known asbarramundi, is a catadramous species widely distributed inthe Indo-West Pacific region from the Persian Gulf,throughout south-east Asian countries to Australia. Seabasshas been cultivated in brackish as well as freshwater pondsand marine cages in many south-east Asian countries(Cheong, 1989). Asian seabass is an ideal aquaculturecandidate species due to its high demand and rapid growth,and has been cultured successfully in Australia since 1980s(Partridge, 2008). Though cage culture technology forseabass has been established, grow-out techniques in pondsare still at infancy.Asian seabass is a potential candidate species in Indiafor rearing in closed recirculating systems as well as infloating cages because of its fast growth rate, ability to adaptto varying environmental conditions and its demand indomestic as well as export markets.While many published reports are available on nurseryrearing of L. calcarifer, reports on work done in India arescarce. The present study was conducted on growthperformance and survival of seabass during nursery rearingin cement tanks, fed on artificial diets.Materials and methodsL. calcarifer fingerlingsTen thousand hatchery produced fingerlings ofL. calcarifer were brought from Rajiv Gandhi Centre forIndian J. Fish., 57(4) : 61-64, 2010Aquaculture, Sirkazhi, Tamil Nadu. The fingerlings(weight: 2.01 ± 0.53 g; total length: 55.58 ± 4.64 mm) werepacked in aerated polythene bags (50/bag) containing 5l ofseawater (salinity 28 ‰;  pH: 7.8:, temperature: 28 OC)and transported to the nursery rearing tanks at Kumta,Karnataka by road. The transportation time was 19 h.Rearing systemImmediately on arrival, the fishes were given afreshwater dip and placed in four cement tanks each of size10’ X 6’ X 5’ containing 7000 l of seawater (2500fingerlings/ tank) with continuous aeration.  The juvenileswere reared in nursery rearing tanks upto 45 days beforethey were shifted to open sea cages for further experiments.Feeding regimeFrom second day onwards, the fish were fedcommercial fish feed with a pellet size of 0.5 mm diameterat 4% of the body weight, four times a day (6.00 am,12.00 pm, 6.00 pm and 12.00 am) for the first 15 days.Then the pellet size was increased to 1 mm for next 15days while the feeding rate and frequency remainedunchanged. For the remaining 15 days, the fishes were fedwith a pellet size of 2 mm. Proximate analysis of the feedwas done in the beginning of the experiment (AOAC, 1975).Eighty per cent of the water was replaced 5 min after feedingwith 20 min flow -through thereafter. It was confirmed thatthe feed was consumed immediately after feeding with novisible feed pellets settled at the bottom.62Table 4. Water quality parameters recorded during the nursery rearing of L. calcariferDays Temperature pH ± SE Salinity Dissolved Nitrite Ammonia(OC) ± SE (‰) ± SE oxygen (mg l-l) ± SE (mg l-l) ± SE(mg l-l) ± SE0 day 29.2± 0.2 7.2±0.1 32.6±0.4 5.5±0.58 0.015±0.002 0.02±0.00215 day 29.8±0.2 7.4±0.2 31.2±0.5 6.0±1.26 0.020±0.004 0.02±0.00430 day 29.4±0.3 7.2±0.1 32.4±0.2 5.5±0.86 0.015±0.008 0.03±0.00245 day 29.2±0.2 7.2±0.1 32.6±0.2 5.5±0.14 0.015±0.002 0.02±0.002SE: Standard ErrorWater quality parametersWater quality parameters such as temperature, pH, salinityand oxygen were monitored daily using portable instruments,while critical parameters such as unionised ammonia (NH3)and nitrite (NO2) were measured fortnightly using titrationmethods as specified by APHA (1980).Grading and fish samplingsThe fishes were graded every 15 days with an automaticgrader and grouped into three different sizes. After grading,representative samples were collected for studying growthparameters.The following growth parameters were enumerated as perthe methods described by Salama and Al-Harbi (2007).Average Daily Growth Rate (ADGR g/day) = W2-W1/d,where, W2 is the mean weight of the fish in the followingsampling, W1 is the mean weight of the fish in the first orprevious sampling and ‘d’ is number of days between samplings.Specific Growth Rate (SGR) = lnW2-lnW1/d X 100where, lnW2 is the natural logarithm of the mean weight of thefish in the following sampling and lnW1 is the natural logarithmof the mean weight of the fish in the first or previous sampling.Survival Rate (SR %) = N2/N1 X 100where, N2 is the remaining number of fish and N1 is the initialnumber of fish.ResultsProximate composition of the feed is given inTable 1. Mean weight, mean length, ADGR and SGR of theseabass juveniles reared in indoor cement tanks, at 15 daysinterval are shown in Table 2. Mean weight and length atthe end of the 45 days' experimental period was 8.55 g and91.03 mm, respectively.  ADGR and SGR at the end of theexperimental period were 0.24 g and 3.22%, respectively.SR, FCR, BI and PER at 15 days interval are shown in Table3. While SR was 100%, FCR and PER at the end of the 45days experimental period was 1.15 and 1.07%, respectively.Ranges in water quality values measured during the rearingperiod are shown in Table 4.  The values recorded were:temperature - 29.2 to 29.8 °C, pH - 7.2 to 7.4, salinity - 31.2to 32.6 ‰, DO - 5.5 to 6 mg l-l, ammonia -0.02 to 0.03 mg l-l,and nitrite 0.01 to 0.02 mg l-l.Table 1. Proximate composition (%) of the feed on dry matter basisProximate composition PercentageDry matter 91.86Moisture 8.14Crude protein 38.43Ether extract or crude fat 3.18Crude fibre 3.03Nitrogen free extract or soluble carbohydrates 48.11Ash or total minerals 7.25Acid insoluble ash or sand and silica 0.33Table 2. Mean growth, Average daily growth rate (ADGR) and Specific growth rate (SGR) of Asian seabass juveniles at 15 days intervalDays Mean weight (g) ± SE Mean length (mm) ± SE ADGR (g) SGR15 2.60 ± 0.51 64.19 ± 5.46 0.014 0.5930 5.86 ± 0.68 74.18 ± 6.16 0.21 5.4145 11.50 ± 0.88 91.03 ± 7.18 0.37 5.05SE: Standard ErrorBiomass = Mean weight x Number of remaining fish.Biomass Increase (BI) is calculated as the difference in thebiomass in kilogram between sampling.Feed Conversion Ratio,  FCR = TFC/BI where, TFC is the totalamount of feed (kg) consumed and BI is the biomass increase.Protein Efficiency Ratio, PER = BI/TPC where, TPC is thetotal amount of protein consumed.Table 3. Survival rate (SR), Feed conversion ratio (FCR) andProtein efficiency ratio (PER) of Asian seabass at 15days intervalDays SR (%) FCR BI (kg) PER (%)15 100 1.50 2.2 0.3730 100 1.20 32.6 2.1045 100 1.17 82.4 2.21K. K. Philipose et al.63DiscussionThe present study has amply demonstrated thefeasibility of rearing hatchery grown seabass juveniles inindoor cement tanks, fed on artificial diets at 4% of thebody weight.  The study also demonstrated that Asianseabass juveniles reared under these conditions showed thevalues of different growth parameters like ADGR, FCR,SR, SGR and PER comparable to previous reports onseabass juveniles reared under different growth and feedingconditions.Salama and Al-Harbi (2007) observed that the FCRof fingerlings of L. calcarifer reared in hyper salineconditions increased with increase in feeding rate whilebetter FCR and PER were achieved with increase in feedingfrequencies. Highest FCR (1.34) was achieved with 4%feeding rate while highest FCR (1.74) and PER (1.65) wereachieved with 4 times feeding. The authors also reported100 % survival at the above feeding rate and feedingfrequency. Harpaz et al. (2005) reported that L. calcariferreared in freshwater in plastic tanks showed reduced growthrate at 2% feeding level and no improvement in growthwhen fed at 6% feeding level while optimum growth wasobtained at 4% feeding level. However, Pillay (1990)observed that rapidly growing Asian seabass frys (0.25 g)required a feeding rate of as much as 10% of their weight,but as they grow and reach about 4 g, a feeding rate of 4%was sufficient. It is reported that feeding fish withinsufficient amount of food results in poor growth rate sincemost of the food is used only for body maintenance (NRC,1977).Results obtained by feeding Asian seabass juvenilesat 4 times feeding per day in the present study are inconformity with earlier reports in seabass and other teleostfishes. Chan (1979) obtained similar results in commoncarp where better growth was reported at feeding frequencyof 3 or 5 times a day. In the case of cat fish, the final averageweight of groups fed 4 times daily was significantly higherthan 2 times daily feeding (Hashim, 1994). However,Boonyaratpalin (1997) and Alava (2002) recommended afeeding frequency of 3 times a day for Asian seabass toobtain optimum growth. Harpaz et al. (2005) also reportedbetter values of growth parameters in Asian seabass fed4 times a day. These authors also observed that feedingtimes had no effect on growth rate of Asian seabass juvenilesreared in plastic tanks with conical bottom. Barlow (1993;1995) reported that Asian seabass reared in outdoor pondsexhibited a distinct feeding pattern by consuming feedthroughout the day when fed on live feed, with a noticeablepeak during dusk and cessation of feeding in total darkness.However, the results Harpaz et al. (2005) showed that thefeeding time (day vs. night) did not substantially affect thegrowth rate of the fish when fed on pelleted feed. Theyalso clearly showed that Asian seabass juveniles, kept inclosed systems, are capable of shifting to feeding duringthe night. It is possible that the overall growth rate of theAsian seabass in the present study could be negativelyaffected at least to some extent by size grading and counting.Catacutan and Colaso (1995) observed thatL. calcarifer fingerlings fed on a diet containing 50%protein and 15% lipid showed best FCR (1.01) and SGR(5.99) while, those fed with a diet containing 42.5% proteinand 10% lipid showed comparable growth rate andsignificantly better PER (2.03). Survival rate was 100 % inboth the cases. However, in the present study, similar valueswere obtained with 38.43% protein and 3.18% lipid.It can be noted that the water quality parameters werewithin the limit prescribed by Rimmer and Russel (1998) fornursery rearing of Asian seabass.  In addition to other factors,optimum water quality parameters also would have contributedfor 100% survival rate observed in the present study.Major problems that are commonly encounteredduring culture period are cannibalism during juvenile stage(Katavic et al., 1989). Present study clearly demonstratedthat proper feeding rate, feeding frequency, water qualityand periodical size grading can help to get rid of cannibalismand obtain maximum survival rate and growth.Since nursery rearing is the most critical phase inseabass culture, the present study has established that Asianseabass juveniles can be reared in indoor cement tanks fedon artificial fish feed. Better values of various growthparameters including a survival rate of 100% were obtainedin a 45 days rearing period.AcknowledgmentsThe work was carried out under funding from Ministryof Agriculture, Government of India.ReferencesAlava, V. 2002. Management of feeding aquaculture species.In: Millamena, O., Coloso, R. and Pascual, F. (Eds.) Nutritionin Tropical Aquaculture, Essentials of fish nutrition, feedsand feeding of tropical aquatic species. AquacultureDepartment, South-east Asian Fisheries DevelopmentCenter, Tigbauan, Iloilo, Philippines, p. 169-208.AOAC 1975. Official methods of analysis, 12th edn., Associationof Official Analytical Chemists, Washington DC., 1094 pp.APHA 1980. Standard Methods for the Examination of Water andWastewater, 15th edn.,Washington D. C., American PublicHealth Association, 1134 pp.Barlow, C. G., Pearce, M. G., Rodgers, L. J. and Clayton, P. 1995.Effects of photoperiod on growth, survival and feedingperiodicity of larval and juvenile Barramundi Latescalcarifer (Bloch). Aquaculture, 138: 159-168.Nursery rearing of Asian seabass64Barlow, C. G., Rodgers, L. J., Palmer, P. J. and Longhurst, C. J.1993. Feeding  habits of hatchery-reared Barramundi Latescalcarifer (Bloch) fry. Aquaculture, 109: 131– 144.Boonyaratpalin, M. 1997. Nutrient requirements of marine foodfish cultured in south-east Asia, Aquaculture, 151: 283-313.Catacutan,  M. R. and Colaso, R. M. 1995. Effect of dietary proteinto energy ratios on growth, survival and body compositionof juvenile Asian seabass, Lates calcarifer. Aquaculture, 131:125-133.Chan, E. 1979. The response of carp (Cyprinus carpio, L.) todifferent feeding frequencies in floating net cage culture,Biotrop News L., 29: 15.Cheong, L. 1989. Status of knowledge on farming of seabass(Lates calcarifer) in South-east Asia, Advances in TropicalAquaculture, Tahiti, p. 421-428.Harpaz, S., Hakim, Y., Barki, A., Karplus, I., Slosman, T. andErolodogan, T. O. 2005. Effects of different feedinglevels during day and/or night on growth and brush-borderenzyme activity in juveniles Lates calcarifer reared infreshwater recirculating tanks. Aquaculture, 248: 325-335.Hashim, R., Ali, A. and Ismail, A. 1994. The effect of feedingfrequency on the growth of catfish, Clarias spp. reared in aportable raceway system, Fish Nutrition Research in Asia,Asian Fisheries Society Spl. Publ., 9: 115-118.Katavic, I., Jug-dujakovic, J. and Glamuzina, B. 1989.Cannibalism as a factor affecting the survival of intensivelycultured seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax) fingerlings.Aquaculture, 77: 135-143.NRC 1977.  Nutrient requirements of warm water fishes, NationalAcademy of Science, Washington, DC, 78 pp.Partridge, G. J., Lymbery, A. J. and Bourke, D. K. 2008. Larvalrearing of barramundi (Lates calcarifer) in salinegroundwater. Aquaculture, 278: 171-174.Pillay, T. V. R. 1990. Seabasses and seabreams In: Aquaculture:Principles and Practices, Fishing News Books. Oxford,England, p. 398-407.Rimmer, M. A. and Russell, D. J. 1998. Aspects of the Biologyand culture of Lates calcarifer, In: de Silva, S. S. (Ed.).Tropical Mariculture, Academic Press, U.S.A., p. 449-476.Salama, A. J. and Al-Harbi, M. A. 2007. Response of the Asianseabass Lates calcarifer  fingerlings to different feeding ratesand feeding frequencies reared in hyper saline condition. J.K. A. U. Mar. Sci., 18: 63-81.K. K. Philipose et al.Date of Receipt : 31.05.2010Date of Acceptance : 03.12.2010

Some aspects of nursery rearing of the Asian seabass (Lates calcarifer,

Bloch) in indoor cement tanks

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Some aspects of nursery rearing of the Asian seabass (Lates calcarifer, Bloch) in indoor cement tanks

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