Lecture Note

1
 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.

2
 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).
3
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”.

4
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”.

5
 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
Capture fisheries
• No stocking.
• No management practices
(e.g. feeding, fertilization,
liming, monitoring etc.).
• Only harvesting.

Enhanced fisheries
• Only stocking.
• No management practices.
• Harvesting.

Culture fisheries (Aquaculture)

• Stocking
• All management practices
• Harvesting

7
Desirable characters of fish for culture
• There are 42000 species of fish, but estimated number of
documented species being cultured are only about 70. The following
criteria should be considered before selecting a fish for culture
purpose.

1. Growth rate
• Fishes that grow to a large size in shorter
period are suitable for culture. Small fish
species are not suitable for culture even if
they have other good characters.

8
2. Efficient conversion of food
• Must have FCR (Amount of feed required to produce
per unit of fish biomass production) and FCE.

9
3. Short food chain
• short food chain reduce the loss of
energy during passage of energy
from one trophic level to next.

• In this regard the best fish are

herbivorous, plankton-eaters,
omnivorous, microphagous and
fish which feed on detritus.
Carnivorous species generally need
a high protein diet and are
therefore considered to be more
expensive to produce.

10
4. Ready to accept compound/artificial feed
• To obtain a high production rate it is necessary
that reared fish accept an abundance of
cheap, artificial food.
• Larvae that would accept artificial feeds would
be easier to rear in hatcheries.
• The raising of live foods is comparatively more
difficult and expensive.

11
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.

12
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.

13
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.

14
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) 16
 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.

17
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.

18
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.

19
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. specularis) Fig: Scale carp or german carp
• Flat body, short and small head, protractile (Cyprinus carpio var. communis)
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 Fig: Mirror carp or Israeli carp
second year. It breeds easily in ponds (Cyprinus carpio var. specularis)
without hypophysation. Artificial breeding
with hypophysation is also common.
20
 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 Fig: Grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon
50-60% weight of grass per day of its body idella)
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.

21
 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 Fig: Silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys
does not extend beyond the base of the molitrix)
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.
22
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. Fig: Bighead carp (Aristichthys nobilis)
• Head long and massive.
• Abdominal keel is incomplete.
• 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.
24
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.

26
27
 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.

28
Thank you
29