Comparative Studies on the Growth Performance of Four Juvenile <i>Oreochromis niloticus</i> L., (1758) Strains in Pond Culture, Ethiopia

Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate and compare the growth performance of four juvenile Oreochromis niloticus strains in pond culture. The fish having an average body length of 9.18 cm and weight of 12.48 g were collected from Hawassa, Ziway, Koka, and Hora lakes. They were stocked in triplicate in 5.0 m × 5.0 m × 1.5 m concrete earthen ponds in 1 m water depth. The stocking density was 2 fish/m 2 . The fish were fed 3% of their body weight per day manually, twice a day with locally available feed having 23% crude protein. The results showed that the Koka strain had the best strain and had significantly (p < 0.05) higher final mean body weight (FMBW), mean body weight gain (MBWG), specific growth rate (SGR) and gross fish yield (GFY) than the Ziway and the Hora strains, but not from the Hawassa strain. The Koka stain had the best feed conversion ratio (FCR) with slightly higher Fulton’s condition factors (FCF). However, statistical analysis showed that there was no significant difference in FCF and FCR among the four strains. Except for the Ziway strain, all the strains revealed an isomeric growth pattern. The overall conclusion is that growth performance between the four strains of Oreochromis niloticus was significantly different and thus, it is crucial to select the right strain for aquaculture purpose. However, further research may still be needed to compare more strains from different Ethiopian lakes to evaluate the genetic potential for Oreochromis niloticus breeding program.