Scope for commercial culture of tilapia

The suitability of tilapia species for fish culture and the potential for the development of commercial culture operations in India are discussed. Sex regulation, monosex tilapia polyculture, chromosome manipulation and sex reversal, nutrition and feed formulation are examined in detail.

Commercial utilization of dolphins (porpoises) in Ceylon

Two species of mammal dolphin are found in waters adjacent to Ceylon, namely the common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) and the bottled-nosed dolphin (Tursiops truricatus). Both these species are predators and cause damage to finishing nets by attacking fish trapped in them. This menace to nets is particularly pronounced when fish populations in a particular area become somewhat depleted. Dolphin can be successfully captured from a motor boat by use of a simple hand harpoon with a detachable dart and bladder buoy. Fresh dolphin meat when placed on the market sold readily despite some local prejudice against the naturally dark colored meat. The flesh of the dolphin is nutritious and can be used successfully in both western and eastern types of cookery.

Aquacrops of Darbhanga District in north Bihar and their commercial significance

Darbhanga district in North Bihar is characterised by thick alluvial soil, moderately good rainfall, high humidity, ample sunshine and numerous water resources in the form of perennial rivers, tributaries, streams, lakes, ponds, pools and puddles. The aquacrops of this district include several species of commercially important fishes, aquatic cash crops such as makhana (Euryale ferox), singhara (Trapa spp.), lotus, lilly, Khubi etc. and molluscs. This paper highlights the commercial significance of these aquacrops and offers suggestions for their sustained development.

The establishment of a commercial fishery for Haplochromis in the Uganda waters of Lake Victoria

Lake Victoria, straddling the Equator, is the second largest lake in the world, with a surface area of approximately 26,000 square miles (41,500 square kilometers) and a maximum depth of about 300 feet. Uganda possesses most of the north end of the lake which consists of a long, indented coastline and a chain of offshore islands on the edge of a 'continental shelf' separating relatively shallow sheltered inshore waters from the deeper open waters of the lake. At the present time the lake is harvested mainly by a native gill net fishery confined almost entirely to the shallow sheltered inshore waters. The annual production of all species from Uganda waters is in the region of 24,000 tons per annum, and Tilapia(Cichlidae)is commercially the most important genus. Haplochromis, a close relative of Tilapia, but generally much smaller, contributes only a small amount to this annual production; see Table 1, although they are probably the most abundant group of fish present in the lake. Through international aid programmes Uganda has been offered a canning plant and it is thought that Haplochromis is the most suitable type of fish to be utilized by such a plant. The Uganda Fisheries Department are conducting research into processing techniques and marketing and the East African Freshwater Fisheries Research Organization was asked to conduct a survey of the Haplochromis stocks of the lake with a view to estimating the ability or otherwise of these stocks to support a commercial canning industry.

Effects of dietary supplementation of commercial human probiotic and antibiotic on the growth rate and content of intestinal microflora in ornamental fishes

The effects of dietary supplementation of commercial human probiotic, Lactobacil and antibiotic, oxytetracycline on the growth, survival, disease resistance and content of intestinal microflora in two ornamental fishes, viz., goldfish, Carassius auratus and swordtail, Xiphophorus helleri were studied. The total wet weight gain, food conversion ratio and specific growth rate of C. auratus did not vary significantly (p>0.05) among treatments. While in X. helleri, significant differences existed in the total wet weight gain, survival, food conversion ratio and specific growth rate among treatment groups (p<0.05). The counts of antibiotic resistant bacteria in fish gut increased with days of culture in all the treatments and the increase was more in antibiotic fed fishes. A reduction in the development of antibiotic resistance among the bacterial flora of fish gut was noticed in probiotic fed groups of C auratus and X. helleri. The results of the present study revealed that the effects of human probiotic on the growth, survival and disease resistance of ornamental fishes are variable and difficult to reproduce the similar effect on different species.

Species diversification in coastal aquaculture: production potentials of shrimp (Penaeus monodon) with mono and mixed sex tilapia

An experiment of 120 days of culture was conducted in brackishwater earthen ponds having an area of 0.2ha each. The hatchery produced shrimp (Penaeus monodon) post larvae were stocked in the 40m² fine meshed nylon net nursery enclosures were fed with commercial pellet feed. After two weeks of nursing, juveniles were allowed to spread in cultural pond by opening the fence. Fingerlings of three different strain of tilapia were stocked as shrimp and Strain-1 all male (monosex) (T1), shrimp and Strain-2 all male (T2), shrimp and Strain-3 mixed sex population (T3) @ 20.000/ha and 10.000/ha, respectively and shrimp only (monoculture) (T4) @ 20.000/ha. The shrimp and fish were fed with farm made feed consisting of a mixture of fishmeal 29%, MOC 15%, rice bran 30%, soybean meal 16%, wheat flour 9% and vitamin premix 0.1%. The average final weight of shrimp was 24.9±1.13g, 23.41±3.26g and 26.67±1.89g that stocked with tilapia in treatments T1, T2, and T3 respectively. The final average weight of shrimp in monoculture (T4) was 27.41±0.76g, apparently higher but insignificant in treatments. The survival of shrimp was 42.17%, 32.38%, 39.45% and 61.98% in treatments T1 T2, T3 and T4 respectively. The production of shrimp in concurrent culture was 193.67, 154.26 and 210.41kg/ha in T1, T2 and T3, respectively, while in monoculture (T4) was 339.77 kg/ha. The growth and survival of tilapia among the treatments was insignificant. The growth of monosex tilapia ranged 225.29 and 291.31g and survival 62.77 and 72.20% in T1 and T2, respectively, in mixed sex was 193.0g and 83.20% (T3). The production of tilapia monosex strains was 1676.69kg/ha (Strain-2 all male) and 1668.98 kg/ha (Strain-1 all male) while that of Strain-3 mixed sex population was 1622.92 kg/ha.

The role of Yssichromis species (Pisces: Cichlidae) in the trophic ecology and foodwebs of Lake Victoria

Many haplochromine cichlids coexisted in Lake Victoria before the upsurge of Nile perch. The introduction of the Nile perch led to depletion of many haplochromines and other fish species in Lake Victoria. The impact of Nile perch predation on haplochromines differed for different haplochromine trophic groups. Yssichromis fusiformis (G) and Yssichromis laparogramma (G) are among the species that have survived in the lake. Yssichromis spp. was studied with the aim of determining their trophic role, food and feeding habits. Samples were collected from Bugaia, Buvuma channel and Napoleon Gulf in the northern part of Lake Victoria. The food of Yssichromis spp. varied with size of fish. Both Y fusiformis and Y laparogramma fed on Copepods, Cladocerans, Chaoborus and Chironomids. Juvenile Yssichromis spp. fed exclusively on zooplankton comprising Cyclopoid copepods, Calanoid copepods and Cladocera. The relative importance of Chironomid larvae and Calanoid copepods was higher in Bugaia than in Buvuma channel while Cyclopoid copepods and Chironomid pupae were relatively less important in Bugaia. The main food items that Yssichromis spp. fed on in Buvuma channel were Chironomid larvae Cyclopoid copepods, Cladocerans and Calanoid copepods. In Napoleon Gulf, fish caught from commercial fishery of Rastrineobola argentea (P) had fed on Chaoborus and Chironomids. Overall, Yssichromis spp. fed on more zooplankton in Buvuma than in Bugaia. Yssichromis spp. and R. argentea are presently the most abundant zooplanktivores in the northern part of Lake Victoria and are playing an important trophic role as major consumers of zooplankton and insect larvae in the foodweb of the lake ecosystem. Yssichromis spp. are bridging the transfer of energy from the lower to the higher trophic levels as secondary consumers. The fishery is still not contributing to the direct conversion of the primary products, the phytoplankton and detritus that were efficiently utilised by the diverse haplochromine trophic groups that existed before the Nile perch boom.

An analysis of the 1970 commercial fish catch in three areas of the Kafue Floodplain

The commercial landings of fish in three areas of the Kafue Floodplain were examined in regard to thhing technique used, catch per unit effort, and species composition and length size. Gillnets were used throughout the year although predominantly in the wet season, and drawnets (similar to beach seines) were used at periods of low water level. Fishermen used a varying number of gillnets in each area, and the catehes also varied according to month. Principal species caught on the floodplain were clarias gariepinus and Tilapia andersoni. There are indications that, whereas the catch per gillnet in the year's 1965-1970 may be lower than in the 1950s. The drawnet calch per unit of effort of these later years is higher than in the 1950s.

First description of a novel Weissella species as an opportunistic pathogen for rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum) in China

Six strains of Gram-positive, catalase-negative, non-motile, irregular short rod-shaped Weissella bacteria, with width and length of 0.5-0.6 and 1.2-2.7 mu m were isolated from diseased rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum) in winter of 2007 at a commercial fishery in Jingmen, Hubei province, China. The diseased rainbow trout exhibited hemorrhage in eyes, anal region, intestine and abdomen wall, petechia of liver, some fish with hydrocele in stomach. Six isolates had identical biochemical reactions, phylogenetic analysis of 16S rDNA sequences, amplified ribosomal DNA restriction analysis (ARDRA), enzymatic profile analysis and antimicrobial susceptibility results, indicating as a single clonal outbreak. But all were different from any other validated twelve Weissella species in the term of physiological and biochemical characters. It is indicated that isolates are phylogenetically closer to Weissella halotolerans, Weissella viridescens and Weissella minor on 16S rDNA phylogenetic analysis result, than to W halotolerans and W viridescens on the result of ARDRA study and enzymatic profile analysis. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was used to scan effective drugs for the therapy of this disease. Experimental infection assays with one isolate were conducted and pathogenicity (by intraperitoneal injection) was demonstrated in rainbow trout O. mykiss (Walbaum) and crucian carp (Carassius auratus gibelio) fingerlings. Because no Weissella was detected in fish feedstuffs and pond water, the source of this pathogen remains unknown, and Weissella isolates were regarded as an opportunistic pathogen for rainbow trout. This is the first report of Weissella strains which can cause disease of cultured fish in the world. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Cultivation of the intertidal brown alga Hizikia fusiformis (Harvey) Okamura: mass production of zygote-derived seedlings under commercial cultivation conditions, a case study experience

Mariculture of the brown alga Hizikia fusiformis (Harvey) Okamura as an export-oriented human food has been there more for than 20 years in China. It is now one of the five major farmed algal species along the Chinese coast. Stable and sufficient supply of young seedlings for scaling up the cultivation has been a problem throughout the farming history of this species due to the unique dioecious life cycle and relatively short time window of sexual reproduction in nature. These two factors led to a practical difficulty in obtaining zygotes at identical developmental stage in viable amounts for seedling production. A key solution to this problem is to control the synchronization of the receptacle development and to realize the simultaneous discharge of male and female gametes, such that the fertilization rate could be greatly enhanced. Focusing on one of the farmed populations in this report, we present our results on mass production of seedlings using the synchronization technique on a large scale performed in 2007. Totally 5.5 hundred million embryos were obtained from 100 kg female sporophytes. The seedlings were raised up to 3.5 mm in length in greenhouse tanks over a month and were further grown in open sea for over 3 months at two experimental sites. The success of mass production of seedlings in this alga helped to lay the basis for future trials in other species in the genus of Sargassum that have identical life cycle.

Species identification in salted products of red snappers by semi-nested PCR-RFLP based on the mitochondria 12S rRNA gene sequence

A molecular approach was developed to distinguish species of red snappers among commercial salted fish products. The specific fragments of the mitocliondrial 12S rRNA gene, which were about 450 bp, were obtained using the semi-nested polymerase chain reaction (semi-nested PCR). Subsequently, PCR amplicons were sequenced, aiming to select restriction endonucleases that generated species-specific restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) profiles. Discrimination of red snappers Lutjanus sanguineus, L. erythopterus from L. argentintaculatus, L. malabarius and other morphologically similar fishes such as Lethrinus leutjanus and Pinjalo pinjalo was feasible by one restriction digestion reaction with three endonucleases Hae III, Sca I and SnaB I, however, for differentiation of L. sattguineus and L. erythopterus, another restriction digestion reaction with single restriction endonuclease Mae II was needed. The seminested PCR-RFLP was demonstrated to be reliable in species identification of salted fish products in this study. (c) 2005 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Species identification in salted products of red snappers by semi-nested PCR-RFLP based on the mitochondrial 12S rRNA gene sequence

A molecular approach was developed to distinguish species of red snappers among commercial salted fish products. The specific fragments of the mitochondrial 12S rRNA gene, which were about 450bp, were obtained using the semi-nested polymerase chain reaction (semi-nested PCR). Subsequently, PCR arnplicons were sequenced, aiming to select restriction endonucleases that generated species-specific restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) profiles. Discrimination of red snappers Lutjanus sanguineus, Lutjanus erythopterus from Lutjanus argentimaculatus, Lutjanus malabarius and other morphologically similar fishes such as Lethrinus leutjanus and Pinjalo pinjalo was feasible by one restriction digestion reaction with three endonucleases Hae III, Sca I and SnaB I, however, for discrimination of L. sanguineus and L. erythopterus, another restriction digestion reaction with single restriction endonuclease Mae II was needed. The semi-nested PCR-RFLP was demonstrated to be reliable in species identification of salted fish products in this study. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Using historical data to detect temporal changes in the abundances of intertidal species on Irish shores

An historical data set, collected in 1958 by Southward and Crisp, was used as a baseline for detecting change in the abundances of species in the rocky intertidal of Ireland. In 2003, the abundances of each of 27 species was assessed using the same methodologies (ACFOR [which stands for the categories: abundant, common, frequent, occasional and rare] abundance scales) at 63 shores examined in the historical study. Comparison of the ACFOR data over a 45-year period, between the historical survey and re-survey, showed statistically significant changes in the abundances of 12 of the 27 species examined. Two species (one classed as northern and one introduced) increased significantly in abundance while ten species (five classed as northern, one classed as southern and four broadly distributed) decreased in abundance. The possible reasons for the changes in species abundances were assessed not only in the context of anthropogenic effects, such as climate change and commercial exploitation, but also of operator error. The error or differences recorded among operators (i.e. research scientists) when assessing species abundance using ACFOR categories was quantified on four shores. Significant change detected in three of the 12 species fell within the margin of operator error. This effect of operator may have also contributed to the results of no change in the other 15 species between the two census periods. It was not possible to determine the effect of operator on our results, which can increase the occurrence of a false positive (Type 1) or of a false negative (Type 2) outcome

Culturing freshwater pearl mussel Margaritifera margaritifera: a breakthrough in the conservation of an endangered species.

1. The freshwater pearl mussel Margaritifera margaritifera L. is globally endangered and is threatened by commercial exploitation, pollution and habitat loss throughout its range. Captive breeding would be a valuable tool in enhancing the status of M. margaritifera in the UK. 2. We have developed a semi-natural system for successfully infecting juvenile brown trout with glochidial M. margaritifera, and culturing juvenile mussels in experimental tanks where glochidial M. margaritifera can excyst from fish gills and settle into sediment. 3. Infected fish had less than 1% mortality. Levels of infection varied among fish. Two yearly cohorts of juvenile M. margaritifera were identified from samples of sediment taken from each experimental tank. Individuals range in size from 1.4 mm (2000 cohort) to >3 mm in length (1999 cohort). 4. The number of juvenile M. margaritifera present in the two experimental tanks are estimated to be between 3600 (tank A) and 0 (tank B) for the putative 1999 cohort and between 6000 (tank A) and 13 000 (tank B) for the putative 2000 cohort. 5. This pioneering method for large-scale cultivation of juvenile M. margaritifera is intermediate between the release of infected fish into rivers and the intensive cultivation systems developed in continental Europe and the USA for other species of unionid. This is the first time that large numbers of M. margaritifera have been cultured and represents a significant breakthrough in the conservation of this globally endangered Red Data List species. The method is straightforward and is most cost-effective when undertaken alongside established hatchery processes.

Quantitative analysis of the reactivity of formate species seen by DRIFTS over a Au/Ce(La)O2 water–gas shift catalyst: First unambiguous evidence of the minority role of formates as reaction intermediates

The reactivity of the species formed at the surface of a Au/Ce(La)O2 catalyst during the water������¢���¯���¿���½���¯���¿���½gas shift (WGS) reaction were investigated by operando diffuse reflectance Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS) at the chemical steady state during isotopic transient kinetic analyses (SSITKA). The exchanges of the reaction product CO2 and of formate and carbonate surface species were followed during an isotopic exchange of the reactant CO using a DRIFTS cell as a single reactor. The DRIFTS cell was a modified commercial cell that yielded identical reaction rates to that measured over a quartz plug-flow reactor. The DRIFTS signal was used to quantify the relative oncentrations of the surface species and CO2. The analysis of the formate exchange curves between 428 and 493 K showed that at least two levels of reactivity were present. ������¢���¯���¿���½���¯���¿���½Slow formates������¢���¯���¿���½���¯���¿���½ displayed an exchange rate constant 10- to 20-fold slower than that of the reaction product CO2. ������¢���¯���¿���½���¯���¿���½Fast formates������¢���¯���¿���½���¯���¿���½ were exchanged on a time scale similar to that of CO2. Multiple nonreactive readsorption of CO2 took place, accounting for the kinetics of the exchange of CO2(g) and making it impossible to determine the number of active sites through the SSITKA technique. The concentration (in mol g������¢���¯���¿���½���¯���¿���½1) of formates on the catalyst was determined through a calibration curve and allowed calculation of the specific rate of formate decomposition. The rate of CO2 formation was more than an order of magnitude higher than the rate of decomposition of formates (slow + fast species), indicating that all of the formates detected by DRIFTS could not be the main reaction intermediates in the production of CO2. This work stresses the importance of full quantitative analyses (measuring both rate constants and adsorbate concentrations) when investigating the role of adsorbates as potential reaction intermediates, and illustrates how even reactive species seen by DRIFTS may be unimportant in the overall reaction scheme.