Effects of larval density, rotifer density and weaning age on survival rate and growth of the mandarinfish, Synchiropussplendidus (Herre, 1927)larvae

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the optimal stocking density for rearing of the Mandarinfish larvae. Twelve units of 5-litre glass tanks were divided into 4 triplicate treatments. The larvae were stocked in different densities at 5, 10, 15, and 20 larvae/l of the experiment. The experiment was conducted over a period of 30 days. The results showed that stocking densities affect survival of the larvae ( p 0.05). The larvae at a stocking density of 15 larvae/l had the lowest survival rate (3.56±1.09% b ) while there were no significant differences in survival rates (±SE) at stocking densities of 5 (10.67±1.09% a ), 10 (6.67±1.33% ab ), and 20 larvae/l (7.00±2.08% ab ), respectively. Average final standard length (±SE) and total length (±SE) of the larvae ranged between 4.17±0.51-5.00±0.07 mm and 5.25±0.64-6.37±0.06 mm, respectively. The earliest metamorphosis of the larvae occurred within 13.67±2.19 days (±SE) while the latest metamorphosis occurred within 24.67±2.67 days. The overall results suggest that the Mandarinfish larvae can be reared at a stocking density of 20 larvae/ l without any effects on survival, growth, and development. Keywords: Mandarin fish, Synchiropus splendidus (Herre, 1927), larval density, Larviculture