Captive Breeding of Threatened African Carp, Labeo victorianus, of Lake Victoria

Abstract

African carp, Labeo victorianus, is one of the threatened endemic fishes of Lake Victoria which requires conservation and has potential for aquaculture. We conducted a series of experiments on L. victorianus aiming at producing juveniles for both human consumption and stock enhancement. A total of 79 broodstock (mean body weight = 227.06 g) were collected from the wild; packed at 200, 300, and 500 g/L; and transported by road for 7 h. All fish survived during transportation whereas dissolved oxygen decreased and total ammonia nitrogen increased significantly after transport. Females produced 46,702–86,712 eggs (mean = 68,189 ± 2397) and fecundity was highly correlated with the fish body size (R2 = 0.96). Only males re‐spawned in captivity while females did not. At 28 C, females spawned 11–12 h after pairing with males. Larvae can either be fed with formulated diet or natural zooplankton. Juveniles (mean length = 36.7 mm; mean body weight = 0.46 g) can be packed as high as 60 fish/L and transported by road for 12 h with low mortality (2.7–10.3%). These results show that captive breeding of L. victorianus can be a good strategy to produce juveniles to boost wild population as well as a source of seeds for culture.