Induced breeding, seed production andlarval rearing of striped murrel (Channa striatus) in FRP tank systems

Striped murrel is considered to be highly nutritious and are known to have medicinal values. However, the production couldn’t meet the demand due to unavailability of suitable breeding technology. Therefore, a study was conducted to investigate the induced breeding and larval rearing techniques of striped murrel (Channa striatus) in FRP tank systems. The breeding experiment was carried out in FRP tanks of 1000 litre capacity. The female and male fishes were injected with ovatide hormone at 0.6 ml / Kg of body weight and released into the breeding tank. Spawning was noticed after 36 hours of hormone injection and eggs hatched 20 hours after spawning. The induced fishes spawned 8300 numbers of eggs and the diameter of the egg mass was 6 – 8 cm with 1.2 – 1.3 mm egg size. The fertilization and hatching rates were 60 % and 60 % respectively. The hatchlings were transferred to FRP tank of 300 L capacity for larval rearing. Survival in the larval rearing tank was 60% from spawn to fry. The total length of the newly hatched larvae was 4.0 ± 0.089 mm 24.81 ± 0.832 mm on 30^th day when reared in the FRP tank. It can be concluded from the results that breeding and larval rearing of striped murrel can be successfully undertaken in FRP tanks with maximum fertilization, hatching and survival rate.