Artificial reproduction of neotropical fish: Extrusion or natural spawning?

Abstract

In captive conditions, most neotropical migratory species do not have the necessary incentive to complete gonadal maturation and spawning, which require induction techniques, usually with the use of hormones. Numerous studies have therefore focused on finding an effective hormonal treatment to induce reproduction for each species. A standard treatment was successfully developed for most of these species, which consists of two doses of Carp Pituitary Extract (CPE), totaling 5.5 mgCPE/kg of fish. However, the best strategy for the subsequent fertilization of gametes is still unclear. This study was conducted with five species of commercial interest that do not reproduce naturally in captivity: pacu Piaractus mesopotamicus , piracanjuba Brycon orbignyanus , curimbatá Prochilodus lineatus , dourado Salminus brasiliensis and piau ? u Leporinus macrocephalus . Ninety-nine broodstocks were used, consisting of males and females of the five species to compare two techniques for spawning and fertilization: extrusion followed by the dry method and natural spawning. All fish were induced with two hormone doses, i.e. , 0.5 and 5.0 mgCPE/kg, and were subjected to one of the two types of fertilization. The results were compared using the fertilization rate, number of oocytes produced, relative fecundity and the broodstocks' survival rate on days following spawning. All species responded positively to spawning for extrusion, and only S. brasiliensis did not spawn through the natural spawning method. The natural spawning technique provided a higher fertilization rate of eggs and a greater broodstock survival rate (P < 0.05) for all species, except S. brasiliensis . It was concluded that the natural spawning technique can increase the production of viable eggs and reduce the mortality of species during breeding, except for S. brasiliensis .