Body weight at harvest and its heritability estimate in Clarias magur (Hamilton, 1822) reared under mono and polyculture systems

Abstract

<p>The present study was aimed to identify the effect of non-genetic factors on harvest body weight of <em>Clarias magur</em> (Hamilton, 1822) reared under mono and polyculture systems and to estimate its heritability. Magur fishes from three different geographical regions <em>viz.,</em> Andhra Pradesh, Assam and West Bengal were procured and stocked at Fresh Water Fish Farm (FWFF) of ICAR-Central Institute of Fisheries Education, Balbhadarpuram, Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh, India. A total of 139 pairs of fishes were mated to produce full-sib families of which only 42 families had either 15 or more offsprings or survived till tagging and of these a total of 1373 fishes were PIT (Passive Integrated Transponder) tagged. Tagged fishes were reared in mono and polyculture systems. In polyculture system, magur were stocked along with rohu <em>Lobeo rohita</em> fishes. The average harvest body weight of magur reared in monoculture was 146.27±1.36 g and was significantly higher than the average body weight of fishes reared in polyculture (137.33±2.28 g) (p&lt;0.05). Male fishes were significantly heavier than females at harvest. The heritability for harvest body weight from animal model was 0.55±0.76 and from single pair mating it was 0.63±0.10. The heritability for harvest body weight in mono and polyculture systems differed from one another.</p>