Spawning and Development of Larvae and Juveniles of the Rare Blue Mauritius Angelfish, Centropyge debelius (1988), in the Hatchery

This study documents the rearing and life history stages of the rare blue Mauritius angelfish, Centropyge debelius , from spawning of eggs through sexual maturity. A C. debelius pair was maintained at our facility for 22 mo. The pair was conditioned to spawn for a 4‐mo period in the fall of 2005 and a 4‐mo period in the summer of 2006 using water temperature and photoperiod manipulation. Continuous spawning was achieved at water temperatures between 22 and 24 C and a photoperiod of long day (LD) 13.5:10.5. Over a 124‐d period, the female produced 97 spawns, 59% of which resulted in fertile eggs. The average fecundity per spawn was 237 eggs (range 13–813 eggs). Fertility of all preserved spawns averaged 19.0 ± 19.8%. Larval rearing attempts using wild caught zooplankton and Artemia nauplii resulted in a total of 10 C. debelius juveniles raised through metamorphosis with an average larval survival up through metamorphosis of 0.36%. Three resulting juveniles were raised through sexual maturity. Sexual dichromatism was first observed about 180 d posthatch. A statistical model: Y = ( X × 0.32437) − ( X 2 × 0.00043) − 2.004, where Y = total length (mm) and X = number of days in culture, explained 97.6% of the variation in growth ( P < 0.001, R 2 = 0.976). The development of eggs and larvae was observed to be similar to that of other Centropyge species that have been cultured. Results of this study indicate that the artificial propagation of C. debelius is technically feasible and forms the basis for this report.