Effect of initial starvation on growth performance and length-weight relationship of striped murrel Channa striata (Bloch, 1793) larvae

The study evaluated the effect of delayed initial feeding on the growth performance and length-weight relationship of Channa striata (Bloch, 1793) larvae. C. striata larvae [3 days post-hatch (dph); mean length: 5.9604.32 mm] were reared in experimental tanks (10 1) at the stocking density of 5 larvae l(-1) for 28 days in five treatments. The five treatments in triplicates were, T, (3 dph, 0-day delay in initial feeding), T2 (4 dph -1day delay in initial feeding), T3 (5 dph - 2 days delay in initial feeding), T4 (6 dph - 3 days delay in initial feeding) and T5 (7 dph - 4 days delay in initial feeding). One-way ANOVA results showed that delayed initial feed had a significant (p<0.05) effect on weight gain, daily weight gain, specific growth rate and survival rate. Weight gain was highest in 2 days delayed initial feeding (280.50 mg +/- 9.5) and lowest in 1 day delayed initial feeding (207.87 mg +/- 3.2). Similar pattern was also observed for the specific growth rate and survival. The length-weight relationship of larvae exhibited the lowest b value (2.006) in 3-days delayed feeding and the highest (2.627) in 1-day delayed feeding, which indicates negative allometric growth in the experimental groups. A better condition factor of 0.85 was noticed in 2 days of delayed initial feeding compared to all other treatment groups. The growth, survival and length-weight relationship data of the study suggested that 2 days of delay in first feeding yielded better growth and survival of C. striata larvae. Thus the information generated in this study might help in better management of the initial larval stages of C. striata.