Larval rearing of Macrobrachium rosenbergii (De Man) in artificial sea water

Larvae of Macrobrachium rosenbergii were successfully reared in artificial sea water prepared in fresh ground water. The water was circulated through a biological filter by means of air-lift pumps for a period of one week to remove the undissolved particles prior to use in the hatchery operation. The experiments were initiated during 1989 and the hatchery has been working on pilot scale since June, 1990. The larvae in all the experiments were fed with egg-custard, Mona and Artemia nauplii. The survival rate varied from 5 to 52% in the 12 experiments. These findings can add to the development of hatcheries in the inland areas which can further boost the popularization of giant freshwater prawn farming.

Karyotypic studies of freshwater prawn Machrobrachium rosenbergii

Chromosomal studies were conducted on Macrobrachium rosenbergii. On the basis of 50 metaphase plate counts, 38 metacentric, 14 sub metacentric and 66 telocentric chromosomes (2n = 118) were observed. The total length of the granomme was recorded to be 34.2 micron.

Breeding behaviour in Macrobrachium rosenbergii (De Man)

During the course of experimentations on the inducement of breeding in Macrobrachium rosenbergii (De Man) under laboratory conditions, detailed observations on the mating behaviour of the species have been made, which have been elaborated in this account. Various behaviour patterns have been analysed critically and the probable directive and releasive factors for these behaviour patterns discussed. Differences in behaviour of the male resulting from the introduction of another mature male in the arena have been described. An aberrant displacement activity which has been observed in one of the males has also been discussed.

Nursery rearing of Macrobrachium rosenbergii (de Man) using hapa-nets: effects of stocking density

An experiment was conducted in two phases for 45 days each to study the effects of six stocking densities (phase-I: 100, 200 and 300 PL/m² and phase-II: 250, 500 and 750 PL/m²) on growth and survival of Macrobrachium rosenbergii postlarvae (PL) in nylon hapa-nets (1.8m x 1.8m x 1.4m) installed in a pond. Stocking densities of 100, 200 and 300 PL 10/m² resulted in similar (P<0.05) body length (47-48 mm) and survival rate (84-88%), while body weight (0.62g) in PL with 300/m² was significantly lower than that (0.70g) in PL with 100 and 200/m². The growth (body length 47mm and weight 0.64g) and survival (84%) of PL stocked at 250 PL/m² density were significantly higher (P<0.05) than that of PL at 500 and 750/m². Besides the variation in growth and survival in PL at six tests stocking densities, a sharp increase in body weight of PL was observed beginning at the 4th week of rearing.

Investigation on bacterial flora of farmed freshwater prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii de Man) in Bangladesh

Total bacterial load in the haemolymph of freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii varied from 6.2x10⁴ to 1.9x10⁷ CFU/ml whereas in the hepatopancreas, bacterial load varied from 1.9x10³ to 2.9x10⁵ CFU/g. The total bacterial load in the pond water varied from 2.6x10² to 4.1x10⁵ CFU/ml. The isolated bacterial genera in the haemolymph and the hepatopancreas of prawn were Streptococcus, Acinetobacter, Micrococcus, Aeromonas, Vibrio, Flavobacterium, Staphylococcus and Pseudomonas, whereas the detected bacterial genera in pond water were Micrococcus, Streptococcus, Vibrio, Flavobacterium, Staphylococcus, Pseudomonas and Aeromonas. Among the detected genera, Vibrio and Staphylococcus were found to be dominant genera in the haemolymph of the sampled prawn throughout the study period whereas Staphylococcus and Pseudomonas were dominant in pond water.

Effects of supplementary feeds on growth and survival of freshwater giant prawn (Macrobrachium resenbergii [i.e. rosenbergii] deMan)

Highest growth of prawn was obtained with Feed B (743 kg/ha) with highest survival rate (60.88%) followed by Feed A where production and survival rate was 659 kg/ha and 53.50%, respectively. Feed A contained 30% dry ground cow viscera, 40% oil cake, 20% rice-bran and 10% heat bran. Feed conversion ratios were found to be 7.60:1 for Feed A and 6.46:1 for Feed B, which indicated that Feed B was more efficiently utilized by the prawn than Feed A. Statistical analysis revealed that the differences in production of prawns among the treatments were highly significant (P< 0.01).

Development of low-cost feed for culture of giant freshwater prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii de Man) in ponds

An experiment was conducted for 105 days in 12 earthen mini ponds of each 30m² size. Five different experimental diets containing 32% protein were formulated and prepared using fishmeal, shrimp meal, soybean meal, mustard oil cake, sesame meal, wheat bran and rice bran. A commercial shrimp diet (SABINCO starter-III) was assigned to treatment six and considered as the control. Prawns were stocked at the rate of 2.5 fry/m² and feed twice daily at the rate of 10% at the beginning and reduced to 8% for the last two months. The results of the experiment showed that prawn fed diets 1, 2, and 6 (control) showed significantly (P<0.05) highest weight gain among the dietary groups, while prawn fed diet 5 showed significantly lowest weight gain. The FCR values of diets ranged between 3.06 to 4.85. Prawns fed diet 1 and 6 showed significantly higher SGR, survival (%) and production among the dietary groups. The survival (%) of the prawns ranged between 46.6 to 66.6% and the production ranged between 304.5 to 563.3 kg/ha/105 days. The result of the study showed that diet containing 30% fishmeal, 5% shrimp meal, 5% soybean meal, 10% mustard oil cake, 10% sesame meal, 20% wheat bran, 18% rice bran, 1% oyster shell and 1% vitamin premix may be recommended for monoculture of M. rosenbergii.

Distribution of Macrobrachium rosenbergii (de Man) in three rivers of Paikgacha, Bangladesh

Distribution of post larvae, juveniles and adults of Macrobrachium rosenbergii was studied in three rivers of Paikgachha, Khulna during November '91 to Apri1 '94. The adults were found to ascend upstream and the matured ones again return to the estuary to breed. Post larvae of M. rosenbergii prefer a salinity range in between 0.5 to 19.0 ppt and juveniles require a salinity range in between 0.0 to 2.0 ppt.

Post-larval production of Macrobrachium rosenbergii using mass-cultured live food organisms

Macrobrachium rosenbergii post-larvae were produced in 1992 and 1993 using Artemia nauplii and cultured zooplankton Brachionus plicatilis (rotifier), Apocyclops dengizicus (copepod) and Moina sp. (cladoceran) supplemented with chopped Tubifex worms. In 1992 (first trial) two experiments were carried out under water temperature range of 24.5 to 28°C and 26.0 to 28.5 °C respectively and corresponding post-larval production was 5.6% and 86.3%. The duration of experiments was 58 and 40 days. During second trial in 1993 water temperature varied between 25.0 to 27.0°C. At the end of 59 days the post-larvae were found to be 44% of the total number of larvae stocked on the first day.

Breeding performance of Macrobrachium rosenbergii in captivity

The key factor in success of a Macrobrachium hatchery is to yield maximum number of larvae with minimum number of brooders. Suitable environmental conditions were provided and the breeding performance of females of M. rosenbergii was observed. A total number of 140 females brought from wild were used for this purpose. Each female was tagged and given a code number which made it possible to record the gestation period, interbreed period, number of breeding and larval yield of individual female during each breeding. Females were found to breed six times during the ten months duration. Of the total females studied, 99.12 % bred once, while only 2.16 % females bred six times in a total span of ten months. The average number of larvae decreased successively from first to fourth breeding. The average interbrood period was minimum between the first and second breeding and maximum between the fourth and fifth breeding. The highest average larval yield of 25,428 was recorded in the first breeding, the lowest of 4,596 in the fourth breeding. The possible reasons for variations in interbrood period and larval yield are discussed.

Substitution of Artemia with Brachionus in different ratios during larval rearing of Macrobrachium rosenbergii and evaluation of their feed efficacy

Larval growth during stage I-VIII was studied in Macrobrachium rosenbergii. Duration in moult periodicity were recorded-during larval development period, larvae were fed with Brachionus (grown on Baker's yeast and also Brachinous raised through organic manuring in outdoor culture containers). The performance of the feed was evaluated through substitution of Brachionus in the feeding protocol, in lieu of Artemia 1st instar. The Artemia, Brachionus substitution ratio of 75:25 was found to be most efficient. The study also indicates that the comparative growth rate of Brachionus plicatilis is higher in manure loaded tanks than with Baker's yeast. Growth rate "Y'' in culture tank being 0.245 and 0.112 and corresponding duplicating time (Td) too was found to be 2.855 and 6.365 respectively in tanks manured/enriched with pig manure.

Estimation of fishing mortality and migration coefficient of the fishery of juvenile Macrobrachium rosenbergii from Kalu River in Maharashtra

The freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii breeds in estuaries and the juveniles after completion of their larval stage start their upward migration towards rivers. It is at this stage fishing of juveniles takes place in river mouths. Kalu River near Titwala, in Maharashtra is estimated based on data presented by Indulkar and Shirgur (1995) for 1991 and 1992 fishing seasons. The fishing mortality was estimated to be 1.50 and 1.28 for a fishing season of 3 months in 1991 and 1992 respectively, while the migration coefficient was computed to be 3.53 during the fishing season. As the average exploitation rate during the study period was only 0.24, the juveniles are not heavily fished and there is a scope for almost doubling the present catch to about 4 million seeds per fishing season.

Ice storage characteristics of cultured Macrobrachium rosenbergii (de Man)

Cultured Macrobrachium rosenbergii (Scampi; 30-40 g) in headless shell-on form was stored in ice (Prawn:ice=1:2) in a plywood box insulated with 2 cm thick expanded polystyrene and subjected to detailed examination of quality by chemical, microbiological and organoleptic evaluation at regular intervals to assess the storage life. The prime quality life of prawns in ice was found to be 8 days followed by a phase of lowered quality, but still acceptable till the end of 13 days.