Weaning Chinese perchSiniperca chuatsi(Basilewsky) onto artificial diets based upon its specific sensory modality in feeding

Abstract

Chinese perch are one of the most valuable food ®sh in China, but the sole source of feed for intensive culture is live prey ®sh. Our previous studies on systematic sensory physiology revealed that this species have a mechanism for this peculiar feeding habit. In the present study, a speci®c training procedure was designed, and both experimental (initial body weight 171.0 g; 120 days) and commercial (initial body weight 52.4 g; 240 days) netcage cultures were conducted to investigate the training success, growth performance and survival of the trained yearlings fed with nonlive or Oregontype moist diet. The training successes of minced prey ®sh and the Oregon moist diet were 100 and 89.9%, respectively, in experimental culture, and 92.2 and 83.5% in commercial culture. In an experimental trial, the ®sh fed minced prey ®sh or the Oregon moist diet attained ®nal body weights of 472.7 g or 344.7 g, although the speci®c growth rates of these groups were signi®cantly lower than that of the ®sh fed live prey ®sh (®nal body weight 560.0 g). Mortality was not signi®cantly related to dietary treatment. In commercial culture, the ®nal body weights were as follows: 750 g on live prey ®sh, 705 g on minced prey ®sh and 651 g on the Oregon moist diet. Feed costs to produce 1 kg ®sh were estimated to be US$6.59 for live prey ®sh, US$1.76 for minced prey ®sh and US$2.07 for the Oregon moist diet. The results of the present study con®rmed that sensory modality and associative learning appear to be critical factors in determining food discrimination of Chinese perch, indicating that both minced trash ®sh and Oregon-type moist diet can be substituted for live prey ®sh in intensive commercial production.

Identification of SNPs in NPY and LEP and the association with food habit domestication traits in mandarin fish

“…Domestication of food habit was performed by following the methods of Liang et al (2001) using net-cages as the experimental culture in Guangdong Freshwater Fish Farm (Panyu, Guangdong, China). In this study, fry of Indian mrigal, Cirrhina mrigola, was used as the live prey fish for mandarin fish and the dead prey fish were prepared by freezing.…”

“…And due to the special feeding habit of mandarin fish, its aquaculture industry is still restricted. So, Liang et al (2001) designed a specific training procedure and found that most of the mandarin fish could feed minced prey fish successfully while some fish still refused. This suggested that food habit domestication traits of mandarin fish may vary among individuals.…”

Does hatchery-reared Siniperca chuatsi (Actinopterygii, Perciformes) compete significantly with two wild Siniperca populations for diets in a shallow lake?

“…Siniperca chuatsi (Basilewsky) and Siniperca kneri (Garman) are two important perciform species with a wide distribution from the southern Zhujiang River system to the north in the Huaihe River system in China (Han et al, 1996;Liang et al, 2001). They are two of the most valuable food fish and two important piscivorous species, having specialized feeding habits of only feeding on live fish or shrimp throughout their life (Liang et al, 1998;Li et al, 2005Li et al, , 2013.…”

Effects of turbidity and light intensity on foraging success of juvenile mandarin fish Siniperca chuatsi (Basilewsky)

“…Mandarin fish, or Chinese perch, Siniperca chuatsi (Basilewsky), is an important commercial freshwater fish inhabiting in the waters from the south in the Zhujiang River system to the north in the Amur River system (Liang et al 2001). Mandarin fish is a piscivore throughout its life and is adapted to the nocturnal stalking hunting strategy (Liang et al 1998(Liang et al , 2001).…”

“…Mandarin fish is a piscivore throughout its life and is adapted to the nocturnal stalking hunting strategy (Liang et al 1998(Liang et al , 2001). In the past several decades, the resources of mandarin fish in the Yangtze lakes have declined dramatically due to overfishing and eutrophication.…”