Lecture Note

Nabin Babu Khanal

Principles of Aquaculture
B.V.Sc., 4th semester,
2071

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 INTRODUCTION
Fish
• Fishes are cold-blooded aquatic vertebrates which breathe
by
means of pharyngeal gills and propelling and balancing
themselves by means of fins which are supported by
dermal
fin rays.

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 General characteristics of
fishes
• Fishes are aquatic, cold-blooded vertebrates.
• The body of the fish generally covered by tough skins armored by variety of
scales.
• The appendages of the fish comprise of the fins. All fins are supported by
dermal
fin rays.
• Respiratory organs generally in the form of gills and other accessory
respiratory
organs.
• Nostrils are paired and do not open into the pharynx, except in lung-fishes
and
lobed fishes.
• The digestive tract of the fishes is well developed.
• The kidneys of fish are paired, longitudinal structures that lies above the
body
cavity.
• Sexes are separate.
• Some are viviparous and many are oviparous.
• Generally fertilization is external.
• Development is direct (without any metamorphosis).
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Aquaculture
Aqua = Water;Culture = Farming
Aquaculture = Farming in water

Definition:
“Any human ways to improve growth of a given aquatic organism in
a
given area with one or more manipulations that interfere with the
natural life cycle of a species”.

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According to FAO (1988)
“Aquaculture is the farming of aquatic organisms, including fish, molluscs,
crustaceans and aquatic plants. Farming implies some form of intervention in the
rearing processes to enhance production, such as regular stocking, feeding,
protection from predators, etc. Farming also implies individual or corporate
ownership of the stock being cultivated. Aquatic organisms which are harvested
by an
individual or corporate ownership and were owned throughout their rearing
period
also contribute to aquaculture, while aquatic organisms which are exploitable by
the
public as a common property resource with or without appropriate license, are
the
harvest of fisheries”.

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 Fisheries

Fisheries: “All living aquatic products”

Culture based fisheries = Aquaculture (Farm

stock)
 More related to Agriculture (farming activities)

Capture fisheries (Wild stock)  Related to hunting activities

Primitive Sophisticated
(Spear, Bamboo basket) (Ship, Sonar, Air crafts)

Capture fishery Enhanced fishery Aquaculture

No control Partial control Complete control 6

 Fisheries
Desirable characters of fish for
Capture fisheries
culture
• No stocking.
• No management
• There are 42000practices
species of fish, but estimated number of
(e.g. feeding, fertilization,
documented
liming, monitoring etc.).
species being cultured are only about 70. The following criteria
• Only harvesting.
should be considered before selecting a fish for culture purpose.

Enhanced fisheries
1. Growth rate
• Only stocking.
• No management practices.
• Fishes that grow to a large size in shorter
• Harvesting.

period are suitable for culture. Small fish

species are
Culture fisheries not suitable for culture even if
(Aquaculture)
they
• Stocking
• All management practices
have other good characters.
• Harvesting

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2. Efficient conversion of food
• Must have FCR (Amount of feed required to
produce
per unit of fish biomass production) and FCE.

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3. Short food chain
• short food chain reduce the loss of
energy during passage of energy
from one trophic level to next.
4. Ready to accept compound/artificial feed
• To obtain a high production rate it is
necessary
that reared fish accept an abundance of
• In this regard the best fish are
cheap, artificial food.
herbivorous, plankton-eaters,
• Larvae that
omnivorous, would accept
microphagous and artificial feeds
would
fish which feed on detritus.
Carnivorous species generally need
be easier to rear in hatcheries.
a high protein diet and are
• The raising
therefore of live
considered to be foods
more is comparatively
more
expensive to produce.
difficult and expensive.
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5. Disease and poor water quality resistance
• Must be resistant to disease, tolerant to
wide
range of environmental parameters like low
dissolved oxygen, high ammonia, wide
range
of temperature and pH etc.,
• Accept handling and transport without
difficulty.

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6. Meat quality/Consumer’s acceptance
• Reared fish should have high meat quality
and
suit the taste of consumers.
• Eg; Nepalese people prefer carps where as
American’s prefer catfishes than carps.

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7. Easy to breed in captivity
• To assure an easy and constant supply of
fish
seed for rearing, it is best if the fish
reproduce
in captivity.

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8. High fecundity
• Fecundity refers to the number of eggs in the
ovary
of females prior to spawning period.
• It helps to produce large no. of seed per brood
fish
9. Economic and market consideration
• Production is half work. If the cultured fish
cannot
get market and reasonable price the farming
will
no longer sustained. 15
Biology of Cultivated Indigenous and Exotic
Fish
Species
• Important indigenous cultured fishes of Nepal
are;
– Rohu (Labeo rohita)
– Catla/Bhakur (Catla catla)
– Mrigal/Naini (Cirrhinus mrigala)

• Important exotic cultured fishes of Nepal

are;
– Common carp (Cyprinus carpio)
– Grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella)
– Silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys
molitrix)
– Bighead carp (Aristichthys nobilis)
– Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)
– Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)
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 Rohu (Labeo rohita)
• It is characterized by an elongated and
cylindrical body, small or pointed head,
sub-terminal mouth.

• The lips are thick and fringed.

• The body color is dull reddish on the

sides and whitish on belly.

• Rohu is bottom and column feeder,

feeds on plant matter including
decaying vegetation.

• Seasonal breeder and artificial breeding

is done by hypophysation. The breeding
season is June to August when the
temperature is 25-30oC.
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Mrigal/Naini (Cirrhinus mrigala)
• This fish is characterized by
elongated and cylindrical body,
small head and sub-terminal
mouth

• The body color is grayish on dorsal

side and whitish on belly.

• Mrigal is a bottom feeder,

omnivorous

• Time to maturity and breeding

behavior is similar to rohu and
catla.

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Catla/Bhakur (Catla catla)
• Catla is a fast growing fish among
the
indigenous cultivated carps.

• Deep, laterally compressed body with

massive head and large upturned mouth.

• Body color is grayish to silvery on

upper
sides and whitish on belly.
• Surface, zooplankton feeder.

• Time to maturity and breeding behavior

is
similar to rohu.

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Common carp (Cyprinus carpio)
• Introduced in 1956 and 1960 from India and
Israel respectively.
• two varieties in Nepal: the scale carp or
german
carp (Cyprinus carpio var. communis) and the
mirror carp or Israeli carp (Cyprinus carpio var. Fig: Scale carp or german carp
specularis) (Cyprinus carpio var. communis)
• Flat body, short and small head, protractile
mouth and two pairs of maxillary barbells.
• The dorsal fin is long with a sharp spine.
• It is a bottom feeder, omnivorous.
• Common carp is a multiple breeder and can
breed upto 5 times a year. However, the peak
breeding season in Nepal is March/April in terai
and April/May in the hills.
• Sexual maturity attains in the first or second
year. It breeds easily in ponds without
hypophysation. Artificial breeding with Fig: Mirror carp or Israeli carp
hypophysation is also common. (Cyprinus carpio var. specularis)

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 Grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon
idella)
• Brought from India and Japan in 1967 and 1968
respectively.
• The body of this fish is elongated and
cylindrical
with large, greenish scales.
• It has a toothless mouth, but has specialized
pharyngeal teeth.
• Grass carp is a column/marginal feeder,
herbivorous and feed on a wide variety of
aquatic macro vegetation including certain
terrestrial plants.
• It is a voracious feeder and can consume 50-Fig: Grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon
60% idella)
weight of grass per day of its body weight.
• Matured in 2-3 years and artificial breeding is
done by hypophysation.
• The breeding season is April/May when the
water temperature is 22-27oC.

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 Silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix)
• Introduced from India and Japan in 1967 and
1968, respectively.
• Flat and laterally compressed body covered
by small silvery scales.
• The abdominal keel is complete.
• The posterior margin of the pectoral fin does Fig: Silver carp
(Hypophthalmichthys
molitrix) not extend beyond the base of the
pelvic fin
as in bighead carp.
• Surface, phytoplankton feeder
• Seasonal breeder, matured in 2-3 years and
artificial breeding is done by hypophysation.
The breeding season is April to July when the
temperature is 22-28oC.
• The major problem with this species is stress
intolerance.

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Fig: Abdominal Keel 23
Bighead carp (Aristichthys nobilis)
• Introduced from America and Hungary in
1969 and 1972 respectively.
• The body of the fish is flat, laterally
compressed and covered by small silvery
scales brownish above.
• Head long and massive.
• Abdominal keel is incomplete. Fig: Bighead carp (Aristichthys nobilis)
• The posterior margin of the pectoral fin
extends beyond the base of the pelvic fin.
• It is a surface, zooplankton feeder.
• Matured in 2-3 years and artificial
breeding is done by hypophysation. The
breeding season is May to July when the
temperature is 24-28oC.
• This is a docile and hardy fish for
transportation and handling.

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Fig: Abdominal Keel 25
Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)
• Introduced from Thailand in 1985.
• This fish is characterized by the presence
of long spiny dorsal fin, interrupted lateral
line and the presence of distinct black
stripes on the body and tail.
• The body color of the adult male is
reddish underside and red coloration at
the tip of caudal fin while the adult
female is yellowish underside and
brownish with stripes on dorsal surface.
• It is omnivorous and prefers vegetable
food primarily phytoplankton but can also
accepts crustaceans, insects, chironomids,
detritus and artificial feed.
• Nile tilapia is a prolific mouth breeder.

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 Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

• Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) was introduced from the

United Kingdom in 1971.
• Coloration varies widely based on subspecies, forms and habitat.
Adult fish are distinguished by a broad reddish stripe along the
lateral
line, from gills to the tail, which is most vivid in breeding males.
• Reproduction is artificial with striping.

Thank you
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