Effects of exogenous neurohormone, gonadotropin (GtH) and dopaminergic drugs on the serum GtH content and ovulatory responsiveness of wild catfish, Silurus asotus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Abstract

Wild female catfish Silurus asotus (Linnaeus, 1758) were injected with domperidone (DOM) alone, [d-Ala6, Pro9 Net]-luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH-A) alone once or twice, LHRH-A plus DOM once or twice simultaneously at 6-h intervals, LHRH-A plus carp pituitary extract (CPE) twice simultaneously at 6-h intervals and LHRH-A plus human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) twice simultaneously 6 h apart respectively. The results indicated that injection of LHRH-A at a dosage of 0.01–0.02 μg g−1 body weight (BWt) alone induced a low but significant increase in serum gonadotropin (GtH) (P<0.05) and resulted in a very low ovulation rate, while DOM at a dosage of 5 μg g−1 BWt alone did not induce an increase in the serum GtH levels and ovulation; in contrast, LHRH-A at a dosage of 0.01 μg g−1 BWt plus DOM at a dosage of 5 μg g−1 BWt (termed the Linpe technique) increased the serum GtH (P<0.05) significantly and induced an ovulatory rate of 100%, while LHRH-A plus CPE or HCG resulted in an increase in the serum GtH (P<0.05) and high ovulatory rate, although the latency period was longer when fish were given LHRH-A plus HCG or CPE.