Growth and Survival of Snubnose Pompano (Trachinotus blochii) Fingerlings At Varying Salinity Levels

The study on the growth and survival of snubnose pompano (Trachinotus blochii) fingerlings at varying salinity levels was conducted at the College of Fisheries Laboratory and Research Station, Brgy. Sawing, General Santos City for a period of 60 days from January 30 to March 30, 2019.
Nine units of aquaria measuring (0.61x0.38x0.31 m) were used as experimental units. Each aquarium was filled with 50 liters of water. Three treatments corresponding to the levels of salinity of 10, 15 and 20 ppt, for Treatments, I, II and III, respectively, were used. .A Complete Randomized Design (CRD) was used with three treatments, replicated three times and labeled accordingly. The stocking density used was 10 fingerlings with an initial body weight of 2.1 g. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to determine the significance among treatments. Duncan's Multiple Range Test (DMRT) was used to determine the significance between treatment means. Statistical analysis was done using the IBM SPSS Statistics (Version 2.0).
After 60 days, the results showed that the highest mean body weight ‘N'as obtained by fish in Treatment II with 12.37g, followed by Treatment III with 10.73g and Treatment I with 9.63g. The highest mean weight gain was obtained by fish in Treatment II with 10.27g, followed by Treatment III with 8.63g and the lowest was obtained by Treatment I with 7.53g. Fish in Treatment II obtained the highest mean daily weight gain of 0.17g/day, followed by Treatment III with 0.14g/day and the lowest was obtained by Treatment I with 0.13g/day. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) showed significant difference among treatments (P<0.05). DMRT showed significant difference between Treatment II to Treatments I and HI, Treatment I and III has no significant difference. Mean feed conversion ratio (FCR) was 3.36, 3.30 and 3.32 for Treatments I, II and III respectively. Statistical analysis showed that there was no significant difference among treatment means (P>0.05).
Highest mean survival rate was obtained in Treatment II (99%), followed by Treatment III (87%) and Treatment I (67%) Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) showed significant differences among treatment means (P<0.05). DMRT showed significant difference between Treatment I to Treatments II and III, Treatment II and Ill has no significant difference. Temperature readings ranged at 25-29 °C, dissolved oxygen at 4.3 — 7.5 ppm, pH at 7.5 — 8.5 and ammonia at 0.0 — 0.2 ppm. These ranges are found to be within the tolerable range for snubnose pompano. Results indicated that Treatment II performed better compared to other treatments in terms of growth, FCR and survival.