International Journal of Aquaculture, 2013, Vol.3, No.13, 63
-
72
http://ija.sophiapublisher.com
63
Research Report Open Access
State of Art for Larval Rearing of Grouper
Zhenhua Ma
1, 2
,
Huayang Guo
1, 2
,
Nan Zhang
1, 2
,
Zemin Bai
3
1
South China Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Guangzhou 510300, P.R. China
2
Key Laboratory of South China Sea Fishery Rescources Exploitation and Utilization, Ministry of Agriculture, Guangzhou, 510300, China
3
School of Applied Science, Temasek Polytechnic, 21 Tampines Avenue 1, 529757, Singapore
Corresponding author email:
zhenhua.ma@hotmail.com
;
Authors
International Journal of Aquaculture, 2013, Vol.3, No.13 doi: 10.5376/ija.2013.03.0013
Received: 15 Apr., 2013
Accepted: 24 Apr., 2013
Published: 30 May, 2013
Copyright © 2013
Ma. This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use,
distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Preferred citation for this article
:
Ma, 2013, State of Art for Larval Rearing of Grouper, International Journal of Aquaculture, Vol.3, No.13 63-72 (doi: 10.5376/ija.2013. 03.0013)
Abstract
Groupers belonging to the family of
Serranidae
,
are widely distributed throughout sub-tropical and tropic water area.
With increasing marketing demands and reduced natural resource, groupers have been considered have high aquaculture potential in
tropical and subtropical waters. However, since the first attempt to culture groupers, significant problem exists in fingerling
production, particular with survival rates are low and inconsistent. In this review, we will use the life cycle of grouper larvae as a
framework to review internal factors regulating ontogenetic development in fish larvae and environmental factors affecting grouper
larvae development. To understand the cause of high larvae mortality in early life history, we will review factors related to the
ontogenetic development, and then we will focus on issues of first feeding of grouper larvae in intensive aquaculture. At the end, we
will review the management strategies of using live feeds in grouper hatcheries.
Keywords
Grouper; Larvae culture; Live feeds; Growth and survival rate
Introduction
Groupers are species belonging to the family of
Serranidae
that are very important for sport and
commercial fisheries (Glamuzina et al., 1998). They
are widely distributed throughout sub-tropic and
tropic water area. Because of the high flesh quality
and elegant appearance, groupers are very attractive
for human consumption. With the increasing demands
in the markets, the global production of groupers
reached to 198 690 mt in 2007 (Harikrishnan et al.,
2011).
In the live markets of China, groupers have
brought high prices (up to US$70-100/kg wholesale)
(
McGilvray and Chan, 2001; Harikrishnan et al., 2011).
Increasing marketing request and reduced natural
resource made grouper being considered have high
aquaculture potential in tropical and sub-tropical
waters (Liao et al., 2001; Marte, 2003).
Up to present, reliable fingerling productions are still
the issues hindering the development of groupers’
aquaculture industries. Since 1970s, efforts have been
made to mass produce artificial grouper fingerlings
(
Lim, 1993). Species such as
Epinephelus tauvina
,
E.
salmoides
,
E. akaara
,
E. malabaricus
,
E. striatus
(
Chen et al., 1977; Xu et al., 1985; Huang et al., 1986;
Maneewong et al., 1986; Tucker et al., 1991) have
been reported for successful spawning. However, as a
consequence of massive mortalities in the early
development stage, grouper aquaculture remains
heavily dependent on the capture and grow-out of
wild-caught juvenile. According to the results
published in 2003, around 70%~85% of culture
groupers were grown out from wild-caught fry
(
Sadovy et al., 2003). Recently, as a result of
successful out-door-ponds culture grouper larvae
in China, China has become the biggest grouper fry
supplier in Asian.
Although artificial breeding has
been steadily increased recently, there is a still big gap
in the fry market.
Studies show that the early survival rates of groupers
are very low when compared to other finfish (Duray et
al., 1996; Duray et al., 1997). High mortality during
the early life stages has been observed in reared grouper
larvae, such as
Epinephelus fuscoguttatus
,
Epinephelus
coioides
,
Epinephelus suillus
(
Duray et al., 1997;
Toledo et al., 1999; Kohno et al., 1990). Although a
series of studies have been conducted to explore the
optimum rearing protocol for groupers larvae, up to
present most of the results are still dissatisfaction as
heavy mortalities still often observed within the first
two weeks after hatching (Duray and Kohno, 1988;