Efficacy of exogenous hormone (GnRHa) for induced breeding of climbing perch Anabas testudineus (Bloch, 1792) and influence of operational sex ratio on spawning success

The climbing perch, Anabas testudineus, is an air-breathing fish having great consumer preference as a food fish and is considered a prime candidate species for aquaculture. Spawning success is an important issue while using hormones for captive induced breeding. In the first experiment, a trial was conducted to assess the efficacy of a synthetic Gonadotropin Releasing Hormone analog (sGnRHa) on the spawning success of climbing perch. Female fish were administered six different doses each with a single intramuscular injection of sGnRHa hormone at 0.002 (TOD1), 0.005 (TOD2), 0.01 (TOD3), 0.015 (TOD4), 0.02 (TOD5), 0.03 (TOD6) μg/g body weight. Similarly, males were administered half of the hormone dose of females in all the respective treatment groups. The greatest (P < 0.05) relative fecundity (715.13 ± 15.0 eggs/g female body weight) and fertilization percentage rates (93.1 ± 8.0%) occurred when female fish were treated at the 0.015 μg/g body weight dose. There was a reduction in relative fecundity and hatching rate in female fish injected with the largest dose (1.5 μL/g body weight) of sGnRHa. A second experiment was conducted to assess the effect of a different male-female ratio on optimum spawning success in climbing perch. For this study a different female to male ratio (1:1, 1:2, 1:3 and 1:4) and male to female ratio (1:1, 1:2 and 1:3) were used. There were a greater (P < 0.05) relative fecundity (886.62 ± 17.9 eggs/g female body weight), fertilization (98 ± 6.7%) and hatching (99 ± 5.4%) rates with the female to male ratio of 1:2. This indicated that the hormone dose of 0.015 μg/g body weight and a female-male ratio of 1:2 are optimal for enhanced spawning success in the climbing perch.