Effects of pH on Fertilization and the Hatching Rates of Far Eastern Catfish Silurus asotus

In this experiment, we examined the survival, fertilization, hatching times, and hatching rates of Far Eastern catfish Silurus asotus at pH ranging from 2 to 13 under laboratory conditions. Eggs could be fertilized at pH 3-12. In a hatching experiment, mortality was first observed at pH 13, when all fertilized eggs died within 8 min, followed by pH 2 (30 min), pH 12 (60 min), pH 3 (4 h), and pH 11 (5 h). Hatching only occurred at pH 4-10, with the highest hatching rate at pH 7 (52%) and the lowest at pH 10 (24%). Hatching rates in acid solutions were higher than in alkaline solutions, although the difference was not significant. Hatching was first observed at pH 10, beginning 27 h after fertilization and ending at the 31 h. A clear difference was observed between hatching times, ranging from 31 to 64 h and increasing in order with descending pH.