February 15-18, 2009 Washington State Convention Center Seattle ...

EVALUATION OF CHANNEL CATFISH (Ictalurus punctatus) PITUITARY FOR THE
INDUCED SPAWNING OF GRASS CARP (Ctenopharyngodon idella)
Mark A. Peterman*, Ronald P. Phelps and Jason S. Broach
E.W. Shell Fisheries Research Center
Department of Fisheries and Allied Aquaculture
Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849 USA
Peterm4@auburn.edu
The US catfish industry processed almost 500 million pounds of fish in 2007 and in doing so also generated a considerable
volume of fish wastes, currently of little economic value. One item that might be recovered as a valuable by-product is catfish
pituitary. Pituitaries of several fish species, mainly common carp, are used for induced spawning of fish. Common carp
pituitary is widely used and effective in a number of fish species. Channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) pituitary has been used
effectively in the induced spawning of channel catfish. However, it has not been evaluated in many other species. In this study
the efficacy of channel catfish and common carp pituitary for induced spawning of grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) were
compared.
Pituitary glands were collected from channel catfish carcasses at a commercial catfish processing facility and processed into a
dry powder. Female grass carp (2.4 ± 0.74 Kg) were injected with 4 mg/kg of catfish or carp pituitary, giving 10% as a preparatory
dose followed with a resolving dose (90%) twelve hours later. Males (1.9 ± 0.55 Kg) were given 2 mg/Kg of either pituitary
at the time of the resolving dose for the female. Water temperature ranged from 22.9°C to 23.7°C.
Females ovulated approximately 10 h after the resolving dose with no difference in time of ovulation related to type of pituitary
given. On average, 84 % of the females ovulated with no difference between the two types of pituitary used. The type of
hormone used did not influence any of the other reproductive parameters measured. Females released an average of 83,831 ±
25,442 eggs/Kg, and the average number of eggs/g was 679.6 ± 138.8 eggs/g. Egg viability averaged 85.6 ± 11.96%. Males
performed similarly when given catfish or common carp pituitary, giving a mean volume of 2.96 ± 1.2 ml of semen/Kg body
weight, and sperm motility averaged 79.4 ± 26.6 seconds.
These results suggest that catfish pituitary is a viable option for use in the induced spawning of grass carp. In addition, these
results show promise for the future investigation of channel catfish pituitary for use in the induced spawning of other fish species.
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