A comparative study on the hatchability and survival rate of African catfish, Clarias gariepinus (Burchell, 1822), induced with catfish’s pituitary gland hormone from farmed and wild sources

Abstract

The present study was conducted to ascertain the effects of using farmed and wild Clarias gariepinus (CG) pituitary hormones on the fecundity, percentage hatchability, and survival rates after induced propagation, explicitly indicating the induction with high-quality seeds. Twelve gravid female and twelve matured male CG from farmed and wild sources (weight range of 711–841 g) were used for the study. The samples were put into four treatments, namely, F♀ × F♂ (farmed-female induced with farmed-male), F♀ × W♂ (farmed-female induced with wild-male), W♀ × F♂ (wild-female induced with farmed-male), and W♀ × W♂ (wild-female induced with wild-male). Females under each treatment were injected with 2-ml pituitary gland solution and stripped eggs fertilized with their respective male milt. Mean weight (28.6 ± 1.14–41.12 ± 1.87 g) and the total number (9266 ± 120.74–13,252 ± 240.92 eggs) of stripped eggs after 14-h latency period for treatment F♀ × F♂ was significantly higher (P < 0.05) than the F♀ × W♂, W♀ × F♂, and W♀ × W♂ groups. Correspondingly, the percentage hatchability was significantly high in treatment F♀ × F♂, followed by treatment F♀ × W♂, then W♀ × F♂ and W♀ × W♂ treatments; that is, 73.3%, 70%, 56.2, and 38.9% respectively. The percentage survival rate for treatments was observed after the 14th day of the study. Treatment F♀ × F♂ had the highest number of survived fries (6133 ± 89.33) followed by F♀ × W♂ (4250 ± 87.62), W♀ × F♂ (2745 ± 32.34), and then lastly the W♀ × W♂ (888 ± 12.25), with their percentage survival rate being 63.2%, 51.4%, 49.8%, and 24.7% respectively. In conclusion, treatment F♀ × F♂ should be used during the induced breeding of catfish (CG) due to the higher fecundity, hatchability, and survived fries observed.