The effects of recombinant eel growth hormone, methyltestosterone and L-thyroxine on the growth of red sea bream,Pagrosomus major

Abstract

the effects of recombinant eel growth hormone (reGH), methyltestosterone (MT) and L-thyroxine (T4) on the growth of red sea bream,Pagrosomus major, were investigated. Administration of reGH to fry by immersion at 2 mg/1 for 2 h every 5 days resulted in significant increase in both weight and length, but the condition factor (CF) diminished relative to that of similarly treated controls over the 37 day treatment period. Immersion in 0.1 mg/l T4 also resulted in significant increase in both weight and length and higher survival rate of test fry compared to the controls. Immersion in MT had less effect on growth and high-dose resulted in high mortality. In the second study, injection of 2 μg reGH/(g·wk) caused a significant increase in the specific growth rate (SGR) of test red sea bream fingerlings relative to that of the controls during the 4—week treatment period and maintained the increasing trend over the post-treatment period (weeks 4–6). Injection of MT at a dosage of 1μg/(g·wk) resulted in a significant increase in SGR during the 4—week treatment period. Intramuscular injection of 0.1 μg T4/(g·wk) also resulted in a significant increase in weight. Injection of high-doses of MT and T4 inhibited growth and resulted in darkening skin, bulging eyes and thinning body. In muscle chemical composition, the treated groups had no significant differences compared to the controls, but the high-dose MT and T4 groups showed significant increases in lipid content. Potential practical methods for hormone application in fish culture are discussed.