Effects of Shelter And Photoperiod on Growth Performance And Survival Of Clarias Batrachus (Linnaeus, 1758) Larvae

Abstract

A study was carried out to investigate the effects of addition of shelter and photoperiod on growth performance and survival of larvae of C. batrachus during larval rearing. The larvae of C. batrachus subjected to three shelter treatments are as follows: TO (control, no shelter); T1 (pieces of broken mud pots) and T2 (black polythene sheet put at 10 cm height above the tank surface). Provision of shelter led to significant (P<0.05) improvement in growth performance and survival of larvae compared to control. The highest growth parameters such as final length, final weight, length gain, weight gain, specific growth rate and survival were found in T2 (black polythene sheet covered at 10 cm above the tank surface) as compared to T1 and control. Further, all the growth parameters were significantly (P<0.05) higher in T1 than control (TO). From this study, it was concluded that provision of black polythene sheet at 10 cm above tank surface as shelter would improve growth and survival of C. batrachus larvae.