No abstract

The lucrative returns brought by abalone fisheries have caused overexploitation and decline of the wild population. In the Philippines, the Aquaculture Department of the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center has successfully produced Haliotis asinina seeds in the hatchery. Aside from utilizing these seeds in aquaculture, they are also being considered for future stock enhancement endeavors of the department. This study aimed to evaluate post release behavior, recapture and growth rates of hatchery-reared abalone juveniles released in the Sagay Marine Reserve. From the two release trials conducted, results showed that abalone of shell length >3.0 cm had lower mortality during onsite acclimation and utilized transport modules as temporary shelter for a shorter period after release. Both wild and hatchery-reared abalone preferred dead branching corals with encrusting algae as their habitat. Recapture rates were comparable between the wild (7.97%) and hatchery-reared (HR2) abalone (6.47%). Monthly growth rates were almost the same between wild (0.25 cm, 4.0 g), 4.6 g; HR2: 0.35 cm, 3.8 g) abalone. Moreover, hatchery-reared abalone were recaptured up to 513 days post-release, indicating viability of released stocks in the wild. Results of releases revealed that hatchery-reared abalone can grow and survive with their wild conspecifics.

To restore the diminishing population of the giant clam Tridacna gigas in Sagay Marine Reserve (SMR), Negros Occidental, central Philippines, two size classes [8-and 10-cm shell length (SL)] of hatchery-bred T. gigas were reared in an adjacent ocean nursery for restocking to Carbin Reef later upon reaching grow-out size of C20 cm SL. Growth rates did not significantly differ for both sizes and were on average 0.67 cm month -1 . However, survival after 382 days of rearing T. gigas was significantly higher in the 10-cm SL clams than the 8-cm SL clams (96 and 83%, respectively). For future restocking projects, the use of 8-cm SL clams is recommended because the lower survival of this size class is compensated by its cheaper price. While rearing the clams to attain grow-out size, the population of wild clams (Family Tridacnidae) in Carbin Reef was assessed using ten 50 9 2-m belt transects. Four species of tridacnid clams have been recorded: Hippopus hippopus, Tridacna crocea, T. maxima, and T. squamosa. T. crocea comprised 12.5-93.9% of all the clams observed in all ten transects. There was a significant difference in clam density between species (ANOVA, F = 6.94, P \ 0.001), with T. crocea having the highest density. Living T. gigas were absent, but presence of dead shells was indicative of its presence in the reef in the past. It can be expected that the release of hatchery-bred T. gigas juveniles in Carbin Reef could provide future breeders that will repopulate this reef and the adjacent reef communities.

Growth and feed efficiency were determined in red snapper, Lutjanus argentimaculatus (Forsskal 1775), fed diets containing L-ascorbyl-2monophosphate-Mg (AMP). Fish (13.39±0.08 g) were fed a practical diet without vitamin C supplement for four weeks then stocked in twelve 650-l tanks at 30 fish/tank and fed one of four practical diets containing AMP at 0, 60, 180, or 540 mg/kg dry diet for 17 weeks. Survival rates in all treatments were similar (88.9-98.9%). Fish fed the 0 or 540 ppm diets had inferior final average weights, protein efficiency ratios, and feed conversion ratios than fish fed the 60 or 80 ppm diets (p<0.05). Growth of fish fed the 0 or 540 ppm diets slowed down on day 60 and fish fed the AMP-free diet exhibited clinical signs of vitamin C deficiency with a soft body and a significantly high (p<0.05) hepatosomatic index. Ascorbic acid in brain and liver tissues rose with the level of dietary AMP. Fish fed the 540 ppm diet had significantly lower hematocrit (p<0.05) than fish fed the 60 or 180 ppm diets. Histological analysis of the liver and kidney of fish fed the 180 and 540 ppm diets showed changes indicative of possible toxic effects. Based on growth, feed efficiency, tissue histology, and hematocrit level, AMP at 540 ppm is toxic to snapper. Thus, supplementation of 60 ppm AMP or its equivalent 26 ppm ascorbic acid in practical diets for red snapper promotes optimum growth and feed efficiency and prevents vitamin C deficiency symptoms. The IJA appears exclusively as a peer-reviewed on-line open access journal at http://www.siamb.org.il Sale of IJA papers is strictly forbidden.

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