The first attempts to reproduce dusky grouper (Epinephelus marginatus, Lowe 1834) under controlled conditions started in 1995, but the egg and larvae quality was very low. Mass production is still encountering many difficulties, mainly concentrated in the larval period when very high mortality rates are observed, confirming what has been observed in the rearing of other grouper species. The main bottlenecks have been identified as the difficulty to properly nourish the larvae, stress shock syndrome, and the high deformation rates. We analysed 633 dusky grouper larvae and juveniles (0.2–7.2 cm total length, TL), sampled during two larval rearing cycles carried out in 2001 and 2002 in Italy. The specimens at different development stages were stained in toto for bone and cartilage and examined for skeletal anomalies during dusky grouper ontogenesis. The incidence of anomalies in groupers hatched from the same egg batch but reared using two different methods (green waters and semi-intensive rearing) and three stocking densities (8, 16 and 28 larvae/l) was compared, with a view to providing tools for identifying the most appropriate larval rearing method in order to at least limit the onset of skeletal anomalies. Our results suggest that during development no particular skeletal anomaly patterns (or fate) can be clearly identified as a high variability was observed in malformation typologies and the regions affected. No significant differences in the morphological quality between groupers reared using semi-intensive (LV02 lot) and green water (GW02-01 lot) methodologies were observed, whilst groupers reared at the highest stocking density (28 larvae/l) showed the highest frequency of deformed individuals (75.8%), the highest malformation charge (average of 5.5 anomalies per deformed individual), the largest range of anomaly typologies (38), and the highest incidence of individuals with at least one severe anomaly (30.9%). Whilst in green waters no evident effects of larvae density were observed on survival rates, the survival rate in large volume reared individuals (17.5%) was considerably higher with respect to those reared in green waters (0.2%) at 7–8 larvae/l. This indicates that the semi-intensive methodology should be considered more effective in enhancing the survival rate of dusky grouper larvae.

Boglione, C., Marino, G., Giganti, M., Longobardi, A., De Marzi, P., Cataudella, S. (2009). Skeletal anomalies in dusky grouper Epinephelus marginatus (Lowe 1834) juveniles reared with different methodologies and larval densities. AQUACULTURE, 291(1-2), 48-60 [10.1016/j.aquaculture.2009.02.041].

Skeletal anomalies in dusky grouper Epinephelus marginatus (Lowe 1834) juveniles reared with different methodologies and larval densities

BOGLIONE, CLARA;CATAUDELLA, STEFANO
2009-03-10

Abstract

The first attempts to reproduce dusky grouper (Epinephelus marginatus, Lowe 1834) under controlled conditions started in 1995, but the egg and larvae quality was very low. Mass production is still encountering many difficulties, mainly concentrated in the larval period when very high mortality rates are observed, confirming what has been observed in the rearing of other grouper species. The main bottlenecks have been identified as the difficulty to properly nourish the larvae, stress shock syndrome, and the high deformation rates. We analysed 633 dusky grouper larvae and juveniles (0.2–7.2 cm total length, TL), sampled during two larval rearing cycles carried out in 2001 and 2002 in Italy. The specimens at different development stages were stained in toto for bone and cartilage and examined for skeletal anomalies during dusky grouper ontogenesis. The incidence of anomalies in groupers hatched from the same egg batch but reared using two different methods (green waters and semi-intensive rearing) and three stocking densities (8, 16 and 28 larvae/l) was compared, with a view to providing tools for identifying the most appropriate larval rearing method in order to at least limit the onset of skeletal anomalies. Our results suggest that during development no particular skeletal anomaly patterns (or fate) can be clearly identified as a high variability was observed in malformation typologies and the regions affected. No significant differences in the morphological quality between groupers reared using semi-intensive (LV02 lot) and green water (GW02-01 lot) methodologies were observed, whilst groupers reared at the highest stocking density (28 larvae/l) showed the highest frequency of deformed individuals (75.8%), the highest malformation charge (average of 5.5 anomalies per deformed individual), the largest range of anomaly typologies (38), and the highest incidence of individuals with at least one severe anomaly (30.9%). Whilst in green waters no evident effects of larvae density were observed on survival rates, the survival rate in large volume reared individuals (17.5%) was considerably higher with respect to those reared in green waters (0.2%) at 7–8 larvae/l. This indicates that the semi-intensive methodology should be considered more effective in enhancing the survival rate of dusky grouper larvae.
10-mar-2009
Pubblicato
Rilevanza internazionale
Articolo
Esperti anonimi
Settore BIO/07 - ECOLOGIA
English
Con Impact Factor ISI
Epinephelus marginatus; Dusky grouper; Skeletal anomalies; Larvae; Juveniles; Rearing methodology; Survival rate
KeyWords Plus:SPARUS-AURATA; OSTEOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT; QUALITY ASSESSMENT; VERTEBRAL COLUMN; SEA BREAM; MALFORMATION; JAW; FIN; DEFORMITIES; PERCIFORMES.
Rivista appartenente alla Classe C: Impact Factor 2015 5 year 1.893 2.345 JCR® Category Rank in Category Quartile in Category FISHERIES 14 of 52 Q2 MARINE & FRESHWATER BIOLOGY 38 of 104 Q2 Data from the 2015 edition of Journal Citation Reports® Research Domain:Fisheries; Marine & Freshwater Biology Articolo appartenente alla Classe B per ISI WEB: ISI All Times Cited Counts 29 in All Databases 28 in Web of Science Core Collection 26 in BIOSIS Citation Index 1 in Chinese Science Citation Database 1 in SciELO Citation Index Articolo appartenente alla Classe A (31) in SCOPUS
Boglione, C., Marino, G., Giganti, M., Longobardi, A., De Marzi, P., Cataudella, S. (2009). Skeletal anomalies in dusky grouper Epinephelus marginatus (Lowe 1834) juveniles reared with different methodologies and larval densities. AQUACULTURE, 291(1-2), 48-60 [10.1016/j.aquaculture.2009.02.041].
Boglione, C; Marino, G; Giganti, M; Longobardi, A; De Marzi, P; Cataudella, S
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/2108/18410
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