Indian J. Fish., 56(1) : 55-59, 2009
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Note Growth performance of the chocolate mahseer Neolissocheilus hexagonolepis (Mc Clelland) in pond system in Arunachal Pradesh BONI AMIN LASKAR, D. N. DAS 1 AND B. C. TYAGI 2 National Research Centre on Coldwater Fisheries (ICAR) Project station, Government Fish Seed Farm, Lower Dibang Valley District, Roing -792 110, Arunachal Pradesh, India 1 Department of Zoology, Rajiv Gandhi University, Rono Hills, Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh, India 2 National Research Centre on Coldwater Fisheries (ICAR), Bhimtal, Nainital District, Uttaranchal - 263 136, India e-mail:
[email protected],
[email protected]
ABSTRACT Growth performance of the chocolate mahseer Neolissocheilus hexagonolepis (Mc Clelland) cultured in an earthen pond was studied separately for adults and yearlings in terms of specific growth rate and net length gain during October 2003 - June 2004 and September 2004 - August 2005, respectively. Forty five adult fishes having an average length of 190.30 mm and average weight of 88.05 g were cultured in the pond at a stocking density of 1 no. /13.4 m2. The gross increment in size of adult fishes after 278 days of culture was 82.87 mm (29.80% days) in length and 119.01 g in weight. Four hundred fifty numbers of yearlings of average length 127.39 mm and weight 19.58 g were cultured at a stocking density of 1no. /1.34 m2 for 333 days. The yearlings gained a net length of 78.86 mm and a net weight of 61.40 g. Key words : Neolissocheilus hexagonolepis, Chocolate mahseer, Growth, Pond system
The mahseers are very important hill stream carps. They provide constant source of unparallel recreation to innumerable sportsmen from home as well as from abroad. Mahseers are also valuable food fishes and play an important role in the nutrition of the people especially in the hilly regions of India. Arunachal Pradesh (A. P.), the most eastern state of India, harbours three species of the total seven Indian mahseers. Our survey on mahseer in Dibang valley district of A. P. (N 280 10/ ; E 950 20/ to 960 40/ ; alt. 150 to 5300 msl) (Fig. 1) encountered two species viz., Neolissocheilus hexagonoplepis, the chocolate mahseer and Tor putitora, the golden mahseer. N. hexagonoplepis is commonly called by local Idu-Mishmi tribal people as “Abro”. But in nearby area, it is called as "Buka pitia" by Assamesse people and as "Katli" by Bengalese in North Bengal and Nepalese in Sikim. Mahseer fishery in the Indian sub-continent is constituted by seven species, out of which six species are placed under the genus Tor. In the existing milieu, lots of information are available on T. khudree, T. mussullah, T. tor and T. putitora (Karamchandani, 1967; Desai, 1970; Kulkarni, 1971; Chaturvedi, 1976; Kulkarni and Ogale, 1978; Nautiyal and Lal, 1984,1985; Sehgal, 1999; Ogale, 1997, 2002). Some information on the general biology
Fig. 1. Map of Dibang Valley and Lower Dibang Valley showing the principal rivers and streams
Boni Amin Laskar et al.
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viz., biometry, length-weight relationship, condition factor, reproduction and food and feeding habits of N. hexagonolepis was reported by Dasgupta (1988a,b,c; 1989) from north-eastern India. Ayyappan et al. (2001) listed N. hexagonolepis in the prioritized freshwater fish species to be considered for culture. Nath and Dey (2002) stated the declining trend of N. hexagonolepis in the rivers of Arunachal Pradesh. Survey of literature revealed a paucity of information on the culture and growth of N. hexagonolepis in pond system in India. Growth performance of N. hexagonolepis in an earthen pond was studied separately for adults and yearlings respectively during October, 2003 - June, 2004 and September, 2004 - August, 2005. The study was carried out in Govt. Fish Seed Farm at Iduli, Lower Dibang Valley District of Arunachal Pradesh (N 270 59 / 09 //, E 95 0 48/ 52//, Alt. 134 m). The salient features of the study are presented in Table 1.
fifteen days interval. Good water quality was maintained in the pond by providing an inflow of a perennial stream of water into the pond @ 6 litre per minute. After completion of the study for nine months (278 days), the adult fishes were transferred to the brood stock rearing pond. A similar study was initiated after a lapse of two months with the yearlings of average length 127.39 mm and weight 19.58 g. A total of 450 numbers of yearlings were cultured @ 1no. /1.34 m2 for 333 days and the rest of the system were same as for the adults. The length-weight relationship of the form W=aLb has been established for adult fishes from the length and weight data in every month of sampling and the specific growth rate was calculated by the formula: SGR = (Final average weight – Initial average weight) / Days of culture x 100. The details of the growth performance of adults and yearlings of N. hexaginolepis recorded use presented in
Table 1. Salient features of the study Parameters
Observation
Geographical position Nature of ponds Size and shape of pond Depth of water Water source Duration of culture Temperature of the water (OC) Stocking density Supplementary feed Feeding time and quantity Recording of growth
N 270 59/ 09//, E 950 48/ 52//, Alt. 134 m Earthen ponds L51.50m x B11.70m, Rectangular 0.8 to 1 m Stream October 2003 to August 2005 15.5 to 36 1 No. /13.4 m2 for adults and 1 No. /1.34 m2 for yearlings Rice polish and mustard oil cake 1:1 ratio Daily @10% of total body weight and amount divided into two times Monthly
Adult fishes were collected from a local lake (N 280 10/ 02//, E 950 50/ 58//, Alt. 474 m) during July - September, 2003 and fry were collected from a river (N 280 09/ 34//, E 950 48/ 52//, Alt. 134 m) during October - November, 2003. An earthen pond of size L 51.50 m x B 11.70 m x D 0.8 m was prepared for experimental culture of fishes. About one month duration was intentionally elapsed to begin the study so as to allow the fishes to adapt to pond environment. Forty five adult fishes having an average length of 190.30 mm and average weight 88.05 g were cultured in the pond @1 no. /13.4 m2. The growth was recorded monthly by measuring the total length and total weight of individual fish and thus calculating the average length and average weight in each sampling. The fishes were fed with conventional supplementary feed such as rice bran and mustard oil cake (1:1) @10% of the total body weight and the amount of feed was adjusted after each sampling. The water temperature and pH was recorded every day. Other water quality parameters like dissolved oxygen, total alkalinity and total acidity were measured at
Tables 2 and 3 respectively. The gross increment in size of adult fishes after 278 days of culture is 82.87 mm in length and 119.01 g in weight. The yearlings have gained a length of 78.86 mm and weight of 61.40 g after 333 days. Study of length-weight relationship showed that the value of regression co-efficient (b) in adult fishes was less than 3 in all samplings except that in May and June wherein the value was above 3 (Table 4). This suggests that the increase in weight did not follow the cube law for maximum of the study period in adult fishes. The difference in the value of b in different samplings suggests seasonal variation in cube law. Net length gain (NLG) in adult fishes showed that the fishes continue to add length throughout the study period, but the net weight gain (NWG) showed a decreasing trend during November and December as the fishes lost weight of 2.78 gm, while in the same month the increase in length was found positive. Specific growth rates were low during the winter from November to February with minimum being -0.0781 in the month of December; but the SGR was found to increase from January and reached the highest in March
Growth performance of chocolate mahseer
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Table 2. Growth performance of Neolissocheilus hexagonolepis (adults) in pond system Months
Days of culture
Initial average length (mm)
Initial average weight (g)
Final average length (mm)
Final average weight (g)
NWG (g)
NLG (mm)
SGR (% per day)
Water Temperature (0C) range
Oct.,03
30
21.5 to 25
1.8
4.61
0.0566
18 to 21
35
-2.78
6.25
-0.0781
17.5 to 19
Jan.,04
30
15.69
5.57
0.4844
15.5 to 21
Feb.,04
25
9.68
14.67
0.3205
18.5 to 25
Mar.,04
34
29.84
16.26
0.6265
31 to 33
Apr.,04
31
15.64
4.77
0.3091
29 to 32
May,04
31
20.5
11.45
0.3649
25 to 33
Jun.,04
31
101.29 ±11.63 103.09 ±9.289 100.31 ±7.318 116.00 ±7.724 125.68 ±8.329 155.52 ±7.324 171.16 ±8.673 191.66 ±9.488 207.06 ±9.129
0.4669
Dec.,03
202.03 ±8.569 206.64 ±6.984 212.89 ±5.197 218.46 ±5.547 233.13 ±5.300 249.39 ±4.31 254.16 ±4.061 265.61 ±4.33 273.17 ±3.722
11.73
31
88.05 ±9.84 101.29 ±11.63 103.09 ±9.289 100.31 ±7.318 116.00 ±7.724 125.68 ±8.329 155.52 ±7.324 171.16 ±8.673 191.66 ±9.488
13.24
Nov.,03
190.30 ±7.836 202.03 ±8.569 206.64 ±6.984 212.89 ±5.197 218.46 ±5.547 233.13 ±5.300 249.39 ±4.31 254.16 ±4.061 265.61 ±4.33
15.4
7.56
0.2493
26 to 36
Total
278
119.01
82.87
Table 3. Growth performance of N. hexagonolepis (yearlings) in pond system Months
Days of Culture
Initial average length (mm)
Initial average weight (g)
Final average length (mm)
Final average weight (g)
NWG (g)
NLG (mm)
SGR (%day)
Sep. 04 to Dec. 04 Dec. 04 to Apr. 05 Apr. 05 to May. 05 May. 05 to Jun.05 Jun. 05 to Aug. 05 Total
91 120 30 31 61 333
127.39 152.18 172.93 185.86 190.67
19.58 31.59 51.41 65.43 73.16
152.18 172.93 185.86 190.67 206.25
31.59 51.41 65.43 73.16 80.98
12.01 19.82 14.02 7.73 7.82 61.4
24.79 20.75 12.93 4.81 15.58 78.86
0.5256 0.4058 0.8038 0.3602
Table 4. Length-weight relationship of N. hexagonolepis (adults) in pond system Months Oct.,03 Nov.,03 Dec.,03 Jan.,04 Feb.,04 Mar.,04 Apr.,04 May,04 Jun.,04
Parabolic equations 2.862
W=0.00002268* L W=0.00002878*L2.808 W=0.00001833*L2.893 W=0.00002264*L2.789 W=0.00001984*L2.883 W=0.00001362*L2.934 W=0.00003404*L2.773 W=0.00000659*L3.075 W=0.00000836*L3.03
Log form
Pearson correlation
Log Log Log Log Log Log Log Log Log
0.976272 0.920026 0.977537 0.961104 0.973751 0.978219 0.974532 0.977876 0.981717
W= -4.64418+2.862*LogL W=-4.54089+2.809*LogL W= -4.73676+2.893*LogL W= -4.49139+2.789*LogL W= -4.70228+2.883*LogL W= -4.86577+2.934*LogL W= -4.46791+2.773*LogL W= -5.18105+3.075*LogL W= -5.07754+3.03*LogL
(SGR=0.626) for adults and in the month of April (SGR=0.8038) for the yearlings. During these two months, the water temperature was in the range of 29 to 33 ºC. During the low growth period from November to February, the minimum water temperature was in the range of 15.5 to 18 ºC. Again the SGR in the month of June was little low when the maximum water temperature was 36 ºC. This
suggests that the minimum water temperature below 18 ºC and the maximum water temperature above 33 ºC have affected the growth of chocolate mahseer. The unabated derangement of ecosystems exerted great stress on Indian aquasystems, particularly the rivers. It resulted in diminishing lucrative riverine fisheries.
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Table 5. Summary of selected water quality parameters during the study period Parameters
Range 0
Water temperature ( C) pH Dissolved oxygen (mg/l) Total alkalinity (mg/l) Total acidity (mg/l)
15.5 - 36 7 - 8.4 4.22 - 9.26 50 - 65 22.5 - 37.5
N. hexagonolepis like other mahseers posses both taste and recreation specific demand for its culture. It is to be admitted here that mahseer grow to large size, but their growth rate is slow. David (1953) has indicated the possibility of culture of Tor mosal mahnadicus recording a growth of 172-200 mm in four months; whereas Deccan mahseer reared in Orissa could attain a growth increment of 107 mm in 254 days (Badapanda and Mishra, 1991). Investigations carried out by the NRC-CWF indicated that within one year period, a size of 210 mm length and 175 gm weight can easily be obtained in properly managed pond environment. Lepcha et al. (2003) in a study on efficacy of fish meal inclusion in supplementary feed found that chocolate mahseer does not thrive upon fish meal as the total fish growth recorded lowest with the feed that had highest content of fish meal (35% of the ingredients). In their study, fish fed with no fish meal achieved highest yield. There was a net weight gain of 38.4 g in the juveniles of chocolate mahseer of average weight 5.4 g after culture for 180 days in the Jhora pond in Darjeeling hills (Foning Lepcha et al., 2003). Our study suggests that chocolate mahseer is ideal for culture in pond system for commercial as well as recreational purpose.
Acknowledgements The authors express their heartfelt gratitude to the Director, NRCCWF (ICAR), Bhimtal, for financial grant and research advices for this work. The authors also record their deep sense of appreciation and gratitude to Mr. G. Ete, District Fishery Development Officer, Roing, Arunachal Pradesh for help and co-ordination extended to this programme.
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Growth performance of chocolate mahseer Ogale, S. N. 2002. Broodstock production of endangered golden mahseer in Tarai region of Uttaranchal. In: Vass, K. K. and Raina, H. S. (Eds.). Highland Fisheries and Aquatic resource management. National Research Centre on Coldwater Fisheries (ICAR), Bhimtal, India. p. 264-268.
Date of Receipt
: 20/06/07
Date of Acceptance
: 27/12/08
59 Sehgal, K. L. 1999. Cold water fish and fisheries in the western ghats, India. FAO Fisheries Technical Paper, No. 385, Rome, FAO, 304 pp. Sunder, S., Raina, H. S. and Joshi, C. B. 1999. Fishes of Indian uplands. National Research Centre on Cold water Fisheries (ICAR), Bhimtal (Distt. Nainital), U. P. India, Bull. 2, 64 pp.
