Open AccessCOMMUNAL STOCKING AND MULTIPLE REARING TECHNIQUE FOR CATFISH GENETICS RESEARCH
Author(s) -
Dunham Rex A.,
Smitheman R. Oneal,
Chappell Jesse A.,
Youngblood Paul N.,
Bice Tim O.
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
journal of the world mariculture society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.655
H-Index - 60
eISSN - 1749-7345
pISSN - 0735-0147
DOI - 10.1111/j.1749-7345.1982.tb00034.x
Subject(s) - catfish , biology , stocking , zoology , weight gain , fish <actinopterygii> , body weight , fishery , ecology , endocrinology
The correlation between gain in communal ponds and separate ponds for different strains, crossbreds, species, and hybrids of catfish in six experiments was 0.89 to 0.97 and averaged 0.93. The mean correlation between replicate communal ponds was 0.91. These high correlations were obtained within several experiments in which various genetic crosses, ages of fish, and stocking rates were involved. Rank of gain in communal ponds was the same as rank of gain in separate ponds. This allows the use of communal ponds for catfish genetics research. Three major variables determined the effect of initial weight on final weight. They were: the mean initial weight, the magnitude of the initial difference, and the harvest weight. These different conditions caused final differences of 2.6–16.7 g per g of initial difference. Multiple rearing is a technique where feeding is adjusted to ensure that fish are of similar sizes for the initiation of genetics experiments in communal or separate ponds. If compensatory gain exists in stunted channel catfish, the multiple rearing technique would not be valid for catfish genetics experiments. No growth differences (P > 0.05) were exhibited between stunted and normal fish after 26 days. Compensatory gain was not exhibited by channel catfish fingerlings; therefore the multiple rearing technique is valid for genetics experiments involving fingerling catfish.