Survey of the lesser silver water beetle Hydrochara caraboides in Cheshire

This is the report on the Survey of the Lesser Silver Water Beetle Hydrochara caraboides in Cheshire 1997 by the English Nature Research Reports. The three surveyed areas were the ponds at Reaseheath, Mickle Trafford and Brookhouse Farm. The report goes through the method of survey and individual results for each location/pond, aspects of the breeding sites considered favourable to Hydrochara caraboides as depth, vegetation, predators and prey species, surrounding land. It comes with suggestions for further work and appendixes. Appendix A contains tabulated lists of plants and invertebrates found in the various ponds, Appendix B shows grid references and a brief description of ponds at Brookhouse Farm, pond diagrams are plotted in Appendix C.

Investigation of rising nitrate concentrations in groundwater in the Eden Valley, Cumbria: Phase 1 project scoping study

This is the Investigation of rising nitrate concentrations in groundwater in the Eden Valley, Cumbria report produced by the Environment Agency in 2003. This report focuses on groundwater nitrate concentrations in the Eden Valley. Most boreholes in the Eden Valley had nitrate concentrations less than 20 mg/l but a significant number had higher concentrations, some exceeding the EC maximum admissible concentration for drinking water of 50 mg/l. The main objectives of this report were to investigate the causes of rising nitrate concentrations in groundwater in the Permo-Triassic sandstone aquifers of the Eden Valley area and provide sufficient understanding of the groundwater and surface water flow system, including the sources of the nitrate contamination and the processes controlling nitrate movement, so that possible management options for reversing this trend can be considered.

Mass breeding of silver carp in a cement cistern with crude H.C.G.

The paper presents a resume on experiments carried on mass breeding of the silver carp Hypophthalmichthys molitrix in a cement cistern through administration of crude human chorionic gonadotropin. The experiments proves that human chorionic gonadotropin (H.C.G.) can be used for mass breeding of the fish in simple enclosures, with facilities of some input and output of water and a dose of 5 mg/kg and 18 mg/kg of body weight, for males and females respectively are required for the purpose. Observations were made by using pituitary glands in similar way. For successful breeding of about 80 kg female together, the expenditure towards cost of pituitary gland and H.C.G. are respectively 275 and 117 Rs.

On the production and nutritive value of fish meal from Silver belly (Leiognathus spp.) landings at Rameswaram

Silver belly (Leiognathus Spp.) forms a major fishery in recent years in the Rameswaram island but fetches for the fishermen very low prices ranging from Rs. 0.03 to 0.12/Kg only, there being practically no demand for the fish. The possibilities of utilizing this cheap fish are discussed and the processing method described. During the glut season the cost of production of Silver belly fish meal works out to competitive prices of Rs. 500 to 700/ton. The silver belly fish meal is of high quality with good protein content averaging 57.71% in commercial samples and 61.90% in laboratory samples and with a high pepsin digestibility of 90.0% to 92.5%. The essential amino acid composition of the Silver belly fish meal compares very favorably with other round fish meals, with high contents of lysine, leucine, arginine, isoleucine, methionine, phenyl alanine, threonine and valine. Since there is good demand for fish meal as poultry and cattle food both in the internal and external markets, there is good scope for large scale production and sale of fish meal.

Studies on the storage characteristics of Silver pomfret (Pampus argentus) transported to Bombay

An investigation on the quality of pomfrets transported to Bombay from Gujarat coast and its subsequent changes during storage at room temperature and low temperature were carried out and the results reported. The pomfrets transported in boats having insulated holds were in better condition than those having non insulated holds. In general, the transported fish can be effectively stored in ice for 2 days, while the fish is in acceptable condition up to 4 days.

Polyculture of gulsha (Mystus cavasius Ham.) with rajpunti (Puntius gonionotus Bleeker) and silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix Val.) in earthen ponds

Culture of gulsha (Mystus cavasius) with rajpunti (Puntius gonionotus) and silver carp ( Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) was undertaken to assess the growth and production potential of these species under polyculture system. Fingerlings of gulsha, rajpunti and silver carp were stocked at a density of 18.000, 10.000 and 4.000/ha respectively. Two treatments were tested in this experiment. Treatment-I was conducted with rice bran and mustard oil cake and treatment-II with rice bran and duck weed. All the ponds were fertilized with urea and TSP at fortnightly intervals. After six months' rearing, the gross production was estimated to be 3,582 and 3,125 kg/ha from treatment-I and treatment-II respectively. Total yield showed non-significant differences (P>0.05) between the treatments.

Impacts of Thai silver barb (Puntius gonionotus Bleeker) inclusion in the polyculture of carps

The impact of inclusion of Thai silver barb, Puntius gonionotus (Bleeker) in the polyculture with two major Indian carps viz., Labeo rohita, Catla catla and common carp Cyprinus carpio has been studied in seasonal ponds for 115 days. The presence of silver barb decreased the growth of Indian carps while increased that of common carp. A significantly higher (P<0.05) fish yield (1793.65 Kg/ha/yr) was observed in the four species polyculture system containing silver barb when the combined yield of all species was compared.

Effect of different rice brans on the growth of Thai silver barb (Puntius gonionotus Bleeker) in seasonal ponds

An experiment was conducted for a period of 110 days to study the effect of different rice brans on the growth of Thai silver barb (Puntius gonionotus, Bleeker) in rainfed seasonal ponds (30 m² each). Each of the ponds was stocked with 150 fish with the mean initial body weight of 2.03 ± 0.03 g. There were three treatments namely R1, R2 and R3 each having four replicates. Three types of rice bran namely coarse, auto (fine) and red were applied to the treatments R1, R2 and R3 respectively. Fish received different types of rice bran at a rate of 5% of body weight daily. The water quality parameters were found within the productive range. The results showed that treatment R1 produced significantly (p<0.05) highest growth and treatment R2 produced the lowest growth. The survival rates varied between 77 and 84% with treatment R3 producing the highest survival. However, the overall best production (1530 kg/ha) and economic return for the culture period was obtained in treatment R1 receiving coarse rice bran. The results of the present study demonstrated that the coarse rice bran resulted in better growth and production of P. gonionotus.

Effects of duckweed (Lemna minor) as dietary fishmeal substitute for silver barb (Barbodes gonionotus Bleeker)

A 60-day long growth trial was conducted to evaluate the suitability of duckweed Lemna minor as dietary fish meal substitute for silver barb (Borbodes gonionotus Bleeker). Five iso-nitrogenous diets were formulated to contain 35% protein and each treatment had three replicates with 15 fish in each aquarium with a mean initial weight of 1.5 ± 0.2 g. Duckweed was used in the experiment to replace 10, 20, 30 and 35% of the dietary fish meal in diet 2, 3, 4 and 5 respectively. Fish meal was used as the sole source of protein in control diet (Diet 1). Fish were fed three times daily at satiation level. In terms of growth, food conversion and protein utilization, the control diet and diet containing 17.07% duckweed showed the best (P<0.05) performance followed by diets containing 34.14%, 51.21% and 59.24% duckweed. Fish fed diets containing higher levels of duckweed had higher carcass moisture and lower lipid content compared to the control diet. Histopathological examination revealed abnormalities in the liver of fish fed diets containing higher inclusion of duckweed. It was noted that 10% of the dietary fish meal protein could be replaced by duckweed (L. minor) in the diet of silver barb (B. gonionotus).

Fecundity and sex-ratio of Thai silver barb Barbodes gonionotus (Bleeker)

The fecundity and sex- ratio of Borbodes gonionotus were studied. The fecundity of 99 gravid females varied from 18001 (total length 197 mm and body weight 72 g) to 42034 (total length 187 mm and body weight 159 g). The mean fecundity was 24959.23 ± 6961.48 (for mean total length 210.50 ± 17.26 mm, mean body weight 118.16 ± 37.34g, mean ovary length 70.21 ± 27.30 mm, mean ovary weight 13.66 ± 7.12 g and mean ovary breadth 15.4 ± 2.79 mm). The relationship between fecundity (F) and other parameters such as total length, total body weight, ovary length, ovary weight and ovary breadth were studied. The fish was highly fecund and the number of eggs produced was more or less directly proportional to other different lengths.

Toxicity of malathion to silver barb (Barbodes gonionotus Bleeker) fingerlings

Static bioassays were performed to observe the toxic effect of malathion to Barbodes gonionotus at 0.0 to 20.0 ppm concentrations. Malathion at 5.0 ppm was harmless to B. gonionotus and concentrations above 6.0 ppm were found to be lethal. Malathion at 2.06 ppm was safe for the B. gonionotus.

Monogenean infestations in Thai silver barb (Barbodes gonionotus Bleeker) and their adaptations in Bangladesh waters

An investigation on the infestation of monogenetic trematodes of Barbodes gonionotus was conducted during the period from July '97 to June '98. Host specimens were collected from local fish farms and also from local fish markets of Mymensingh. Samples of P. ticto and P. sarana were also examined. Two species - Dactylogyrus lampam (Lim and Furtado 1986) and Dactylogyrus siamensis (Chinabut and Lim 1993) the Thai parasites were recorded from B. gonionotus and D. lampam, from our indigenous fish P. sarana. Two species of Gyrodactylus were also recorded from B. gonionotus. Both prevalence and intensity of infestation were moderate in B. gonionotus. Prevalences were recorded higher in larger fishes and mean intensity in intermediate size group fishes. Infestations were higher in winter months. Adaptations of the foreign parasites in Bangladesh waters, their transmission in local fishes and invasion of the local parasites to this exotic fish have been discussed. Suggestions have also been made to protect the introduction of new species in our waters.

Pathogenicity of Aeromonas sobria to Thai silver barb (Barbodes gonionotus Bleeker) and its sensitivity to some antibiotic agents

Five isolates of Aeromonas sobria, collected from the diseased fish were selected for detection the pathogenicity following water-born infection method on silver barbs (Barbodes gonionotus) at the selected exposure dose 2.5x10⁸ CFU/ml which was standardized by preliminary test. In the experimental condition lesion and mortality were found in fishes. Among the isolate, Ass17 Ass19, Ass31 and Ass36 were successfully infected 20-60% fishes. Another isolate Ass20 was found non-pathogenic. Drug sensitivity test was performed by six antibiotics viz. Oxytetracycline, Oxolinic acid, Chloramphenicol, Stilphamethozazole, Streptomycin, Erythromycin. All the isolates showed variable reaction patterns to antibiotics. Most of the isolates were found sensitive to Oxytetracycline (OT), Oxolinic acid (OA) and Chloramphenicol (C) but resistance to Erythromycin and Sulphamethoxazole (SXT). Isolate Ass31 found resistant to Oxolinic acid.