Influences of stocking density on growth of Acipenser baeriiduring domestication

The effects of stocking density on the growth and survival of juvenile Acipenser baerii were studied.Experimental fish were reared in five different stocking density(1.843,1.638,1.433,1.228,1.024 kg/m3) for 10 days.After 10 d domestication,we found the dissolved oxygen of the biggest density group D1 dropped from 5.96 to 4.09 mg/L,which was close to normal growth and development of sturgeon(4 mg/L).The mortality and final weight of higher density group D1,D2 and D3 and lower density group D4,D5 were significant difference(P0.05).The average specific growth rate(SGR) of D3 was the largest,and SGR of D1 and D2 were significant different from D3,D4 and D5(P0.05).The maximum values of final body weight,daily weight gain(DWG) and condition factor were found in D4.And DWG,CF,the coefficient variation(CV) of the weight and length was not significantly affected by stocking density(P0.05).The mortality rate of 5 group from D1 to D5 were 2.06%,1.99%,1.87%,1.68%,and 1.64%,respectively,CF ranged from 0.498 to 0.532,the average SGR was 11.16%~13.14%,the body weight CV ranged from 30.72% to 33.54%,and the body length CV ranged from 6.64% to 9.94%.The results demonstrated that it was suitable to domesticate the juvenile Siberian sturgeon in density of 1.228 to1.433 kg/m3,namely 3 000 to 3 500 tail of every pond of 2 meters in diameter.