Effect of L-tryptophan on Growth and Survival of Pabda Fry, Ompok bimaculatus (Bloch, 1794)

Abstract

Availability of quality seeds of Pabda,
Ompok bimaculatus (Bloch, 1794) remains a constraint
for development of aquaculture of this species. Poor
fry survival, attributed to several factors, is a major
bottleneck for the culture of Pabda. A study was
conducted for 30 days to evaluate the effect of
tryptophan solution on growth and survival of
Pabda, O. bimaculatus fry. Fifty numbers of fry
(0.113±0.001 g; 2.43±0.01 cm) were stocked into
aerated aquariums following a completely randomized
design consisting of four treatments with three
replicates each. Four different doses of L-tryptophan
viz., 0 ppm (control), 2 ppm (T1), 4 ppm (T2) and
6 ppm (T3) were prepared and tested. Fishes were
fed twice with chopped tubifex to satiation. The
results showed that groups fed with tryptophan had
significantly lower cannibalism and higher survival
rate than control group. However, the growth
performance of tryptophan groups were significantly
lower than the control group. The maximum
survival (51.33±0.67%) and minimum cannibalism
(22.00±1.15%) coupled with high growth (0.38±0.01
g) was recorded in group treated at 2 ppm
tryptophan. The study concludes that a dose of 2
ppm tryptophan will reduce cannibalism without
compromising the growth of pabda fry during
rearing.