The influence of dietary lipid sources on relative fecundity, spawning interval, egg size, fertilization rate, hatching rate and relative hatchling number of Pterophyllum scalare was studied. P. scalare brood fishes were fed with four iso-nitrogenous (50% crude protein) and iso-lipidic (12% crude lipid) diets up to satiation for approximately 90 days. The dietary lipid sources were a 1: 1 (w/w) mixture of cod liver oil and either coconut (CCO), corn (CO), linseed (LO) or soybean oil (SO). At the end of the experiment it was observed that Alpha-linolenic acid (ALA, 18: 3n-3), Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, Timnodonic acid, 20: 5n-3) and 2Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, Cervonic acid, 2: 6n-3) content affects reproductive performance of fish. It is also suggested that P. scalare brood stock fed with either CO or SO diet showed better reproductive performance.
fatty acids, relative fecundity, fertilization rate, hatching rate, egg and larval quality
