Captive Breeding of a Gangetic Leaffish Nandus nandus (Hamilton-Buchanan) with Three Commercial GnRH Preparations

Abstract

Nandus nandus is a threatened fish species that plays a significant role in the nutrition of India, especially in the Northeastern states. In the present study, induced spawning of a threatened freshwater fish Nandus nandus (Hamilton-Buchanan) was conducted using three commercially available synthetic GnRH preparations viz., wova- FH, ovaprim, and ovatide in different intensities. The brooder females were injected one time and left to spawn in the spawning hapa. It was found that at different dosages (0.1 ml, 0.2, and 0.3 ml/kg of body weight) hormone wova-FH and ovaprim could induce the fishes to spawn. No spawning was observed by females treated with ovatide and in control set. The spawning time, fertilization rate, hatching rate, and survival rate were quantified in each set of experiment. The egg output/gm female was higher with the dosage of 0.3 ml in comparison to 0.1 ml/kg and 0.2 ml/kg of body weight of ovaprim and wova-FH. The statistical analysis showed significant effect (P < 0.05) between hormonal doses with latency period, fertilization rate, incubation period, hatching percentage, and egg output. The present study suggests that wova –FH and ovaprim at 0.3 ml/kg body weight of fish are more effective in induction of spawning of N. nandus.

KEYWORDS:

• Nandus nandus
• captive breeding
• commercial GnRH
• incubation
• fertilization
• hatching

The authors express their gratitude to the director, National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources, Lucknow, for providing facilities and valuable suggestions. The study was funded by National Agricultural Technology Project, Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi. The authors would also like to thank Mr. Dipak Roy, Progressive Fish Farmer, Roy Fish Farm, Beldanag, West Bengal, for providing farm and hatchery facilities to carry out the breeding experiment.