Observations on impact of stunting on breeding performance of farmed rohu Labeo rohita (Hamilton, 1822)

Abstract

Breeding performance of stunted rohu Labeo rohita (Hamilton, 1822) was compared with normally reared rohu. Randomly selected stunted and normal fishes were tagged and reared together in a single earthen pond for broodstock development. Both groups exhibited growth enhancement during the broodstock development period, though normal fishes were found larger in size than the stunted fishes, after the rearing period. Gonadosomatic Index (GSI) of female fishes indicated a similar trend of ovary growth in both the groups. Breeding performances of the broodstocks were evaluated by induced breeding trials. Parameters such as absolute fecundity, relative fecundity, number of spawns produced and hatching percentage were significantly higher (p<0.05) (almost double) in normal fishes than the stunted fishes. The present results indicate that the stunting process (6 months) is having detrimental effect on the breeding performance of rohu and thus stunted fishes are not ideal for broodstock development.

Keywords: Fecundity, Gonadosomatic Index, Rohu, Stunted fish