A review of spawning induction, larviculture, and juvenile rearing of the fat snook, Centropomus parallelus

Abstract

The fat snook, Centropomus parallelus, is a commercially valuable marine fish species with potential for aquaculture. This paper describes the development of technology for mass production of fat snook juveniles at the Experimental Fish Hatchery of the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, focusing on research about reproduction, larviculture, and juvenile rearing. Induced spawning of wild fat snook was first achieved in 1991 with a single injection of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). There was a substantial increase in egg quality when broodstock was conditioned in maturation rooms and induced to spawn. Different dosages of luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone analogue (LHRHa) with saline injection and colesterol implant were also tested. As fat snook exhibits group-synchronous oocyte development, females could be induced to spawn (with 35-50 mug kg(-1) of LHRHa) once a month, resulting in up to four consecutive spawnings. Results of larval culture were highly variable at the beginning; survival rates were frequently around 1% until the juvenile stage. Several experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of environmental factors and feeding quality on survival and growth. With the improvement of the spawning induction technique and better larviculture practices, survival rates increased to 10-30%. Studies on the particular requirements of juveniles in terms of stocking density, feeding, nutrition, and environmental factors were also performed in order to improve growth rates and feed utilization. The present study demonstrates the feasibility of mass production of fat snook juveniles. However, further research is needed to develop cost-effective grow-out technology.