Performance of Grey Mullet (Mugil cephalus L.) - Arabaqs.org

JOURNAL OF THE Vol. 1 No 2ARABIAN AQUACULTURE SOCIETY December 2006Performance of Grey Mullet (Mugil cephalus L.) Reared in Monoculture in theNew Desert AreasBakeer, M. N.Central Laboratory for Aquaculture Research ,Abbassa.Agricultural Research Center, Giza, Egypt.ABSTRACTThis study aimed to investigate the prevailing water quality parameters, planktoncommunities , total production and economic returns of grey mullet ( Mugilcephalus)fingerlings ,reared at three different stocking densities in monoculturesystem under Egyptian condition. Fish were stocked at three denities of 1 fish/m 3(SD 1 ), 2 fish/m 3 (SD 2 ) and 3 fish/m 3 (SD 3 ). Average initial weight of mulletfingerlings was 10±0.20 g. The present study was conducted at 6 earthen ponds each5000m 2 . The duration of the experiment lasted 8 month. Results showed that therewas significant differences (P< 0.05) between (SD 1 and SD 2 ) and (SD 3 ) on growthperformance, which decreased as stocking densities increased . The highest finalmean weight of fish resulted from (SD 1 ) followed by (SD 2 ) and (SD 3 ), however thetotal fish yield increased with increase of the stocking density but with no increases inprofitability compared to the lowest stocking rate 1fish/m 3 . Based on the obtainedresults and economical evaluation it could be recommended that, the best stoking rateof grey mullet (M.cephalus ) fingerlings during rearing period. was 2 fish /m 3 (SD 2 )under the experimental condition in the new desert areas.Key words: Monoculture, Mullet, Stocking densities, Plankton communities, Growthperformance, Yield and Economic returnsINTRODUCTIONThe most common species of fishproduced in Egypt are tilapia (40% ofproduction from all sources) and greymullet (Mugil cephalus ) (14% ) These twogroups account for more than half of allfish production (MSSP, 2001).Fertilization and supplementary feeding ledto best growth rate of M.cephaluscompared to supplementary feedingonly.(Abd -El Tawab and Yones 2001)Flathead grey mullet enhancedphytoplankton development due to theremoval of large cladoceranss and not as aconsequence of nutrient release. Furthermore, the flathead grey mullet strongly© Copyright by the Arabian Aquaculture Society 200644

GREY MULLET REARED IN MONOCULTURE IN THE NEW DESERT AREASmodified the benthic community ,probably due to direct predation (Torras etal., 2000).The survival of mullet exceeded97% and it did not appear to be affected bythe quantity or quality of food presentedand it also had the ability to digest andutilize the artificial diet (Abd El-Ghany etal., 1996) .Mullet have a world widedistribution because they feed at the lowesttrophic levels on plant detritus and algae.They are extremely abundant in estuaries ,and are easily caught and transported .They are especially suited for farming infish ponds ( Oren,1981 ).The aim of the present study was toinvestigate the water quality criteria,plankton communities, growth parameters,survival rate, body composition, total fishproduction and economic efficiency ofgrey mullet (M.cephalus ) reared atdifferent densities in the new desert areasunder monoculture conditions.MATERIALS AND METHODSThe present study was carried out inprivate fish farm at Wady-El Natron, BehiraGovernorate , Egypt .Six brackish waterearthen ponds of 5000 m 2 each and waterdepth 1.00 m. in average were used duringthe experimental period. Ponds werestocked with grey mullet (Mugil cephalusL.) fingerlings in monoculture system atstocking density of 1 fish/m 3 (SD 1 ), 2fish/m 3 (SD 2 ) and 3 fish/m 3 (SD 3 ). Threetreatments in two replicates each were used.Fish were adapted for two weeks period inconcrete pond before the start of theexperiment fed diet formulated from locallyavailable ingredients. Then active fishaveraging 10 ±0.20g. in weight wereallotted randomly to six earthen ponds. Dietwas formulated to contain nearly 20%crude protein and 3420 k. cal gross energyper kg. The protein, carbohydrate and lipidssources were fishmeal, yellow corn, wheatbran, wheat flour and corn oil respectively(Table, 1). Feed was distributed in thepelleted form of 2.0 mm. Feed was given tothe fish at 3% of the total biomass per day (5 days per week). The daily ration wasoffered into two portions at 9.00, a.m. and2.00 p.m.. A sample of 100 fish from eachpond were weight at fortnight intervals andthe amount of feed offered was readjusted.Individual weight and length were recorded(150 fish/pond) at the end of the presentstudy.Feed ingredients and sample werepulverized and homogenized. In thishomogenate, dry weight, nitrogen, fat,fiber and nitrogen free extract ( N.F.E.)were determined according to A.O.A.C.(1990). Whole body of fish samples wereground together after deep freezing andthe following were determined, dry matter,ash, lipid and protein according to A.O.A.C.(1990) . The experiment, wasstarted on 25 March and lasted for 32weeks. Organic and chemical fertilizerwere used in all experimental ponds, toaccelerate phytoplankton and zooplankton,at a rate of 200 kg cattle manure, 20 kg.superphosphate and 10 kg ammoniumsulfate biweekly.45

BAKEERTable (1) Composition and proximate chemical analyses of the experimental diet (As % of drymatter basis).Ingredients %Fish meal 20Yellow corn 33Wheat bran 33Wheat flour 7Corn oil 2Vitamin premix* 2.5Mineral premix** 2.5Total 100Chemical analysisDry matter 86.51Crude protein 19.81Ether extract 3. 38Ash 19.02Crude fiber 9.11Nitrogen free extract+ 48.68Gross Energy (kcal/g diet) ++ 3.42**Vitamins mixture contained (as g/ kg premix ) : Thiamine 2.5 ; Riboflavin 2.5 , acidpyridxine 2.0 Inositol 100.0 ;Biotin 0.3; Pantothenic acid 100.0 ; Folic acid 0.75;Para-aminobenzioic 2. 5 Choline 200.0 Nicotinic acid 10. Cyanocobalmine 0.005;Tocopherol acetate 20.1 ;Ascorbic acid 50.0 ; Menadione 2.0 . ; Retinol palmitate100.000IU ; Cholecalciferol 500.000 IU.*** Minerals premix (as g/ kg of premix ) CaHPO4.2H20 727.7775; MgSO4 ; H20 127.5 ;KCal 50.0; NaCl 60.; FeSO4. 7H20 25.; ZnSO4. 7H20 5.5; MnSO4. 4H20 2.53;CuSO4.5H200.785; CoSO4. 7 H20 0.4775; Calo3.6H2 0.295; CrC13.6H20 0.1275+ Calculated by difference++ Gross energy were calculated , the energy value (Kcal/ g) for protein 5.65; for lipid 9.45and for carbohydrate 4.1 (Jobling , 1983)46

GREY MULLET REARED IN MONOCULTURE IN THE NEW DESERT AREASTo process the data, total gain wascalculated according to the equations.Total gain g / fish = Average final fishweight ( g) – Average Initial fish weight(g)Absolute Growth Rate (g / day) =Final fish weight (g) – Initial fish weight (g)Time in dayWater Quality MeasurementsTemperature, dissolved oxygen andpH were measured daily using temperatureand dissolved oxygen meter (YSI model57) and pH meter (model corning 345).Transparency and Turbidity were measureddaily by Secchi disk. Determinations ofphosphorous and ammonia were carriedout every two weeks according to methodsof Boyd (1990). Phytoplankton andzooplankton communities in pond waterdetermined every two weeks according tothe methods described by Boyd and Tucker(1992). Samples were collected fromdifferent sites of the experimental pondsrandomly to represent the water of thewhole pond.Statistical AnalysisOne way analysis of variance wastested after Steel and Torrie (1980).Duncan’s Multiple Range test (Duncan,1955) was applied to compare thesignificance means of the variousparameters at 5% probability level.RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONA) Water quality criteria1- Physial characteristicsAverage water quality criteria asaffected by different stocking densities arepresented in Table(2).Results revealed thatthere are no significant differences in watertemperature, which was ranged between22.4 and 29.3 o C in all treatments.Transparency (Secchi disk reading in cm)was significantly affected by differentstocking densities. The maximum averageswere obtained from treatment 1(SD 1 ) andtreatment 2 (SD 2 ) [14.65 and 15.0 cm,respectively], where third treatment was thelowest( 13.5cm). These mean that , athigher densities the water are more turbidwhich may be resulted from fish movementin the ponds. These values (watertemperature o C and Secchi disk readingcm.) are beneficial to fish cultivation. Inthis connection, Oren (1981); Marai et al.(2003) and Lupatsch et al. (2003) reportedthat no significant deferences intemperature was observed in ponds withdifferent stocking densities. In this respect,Abd-El Tawab and Yones (2001) found thattemperature of El-Fayoum fish farmsranged between 25.6 to 30.6, which arenear to our findings. Temperature andtransparency values are in the rangerecommended for the fish species culturedin the three treatments ( Boyd , 1990).47

BAKEER2- Chemical CharacteristicsAverage of pH values fortreatments (SD 1 ); (SD 2 ) and (SD 3 ) were8.25; 8.8 and 8.4, respectively. Anddifferences were insignificant (P≤0.05).Average of dissolved oxygen (DO) valueswere ranged between 3.82 to 8.95 mg/L.These values may be beneficial to fishcultivation and indicate also that dissolvedoxygen concentrations were decreased atearly moring in all experimental ponds.This values were agreed with the findingsof Boyd and Tucker(1998).Unionized (free) ammonia values(NH 3 ) in Table (2) were low to be toxic tofish , and it was < 0.5 mg/L and lay in thenormal range. These values are beneficialto fish cultivation and agreed with thefindings of Wurts (2003) and Samra (2006)who concluded that the toxic levels forunionized ammonia for short timeexposure usually lie between 0.6 to 2.0mg/L for pond fish. Averages of salinityand total hardness were no significantlyaffected by treatments (Table, 2). Thesevalues showed no variations and they layin the disirable range for mullet, cultured inthe three treatments Oren,(1981).Averagesof phosphorus had ranged between 1.8 and2.5mg/L, which were insignificantlydifferences ( Table, 2) and showed nonutrient limitations ( Boyd, 1990).3-Hydro-Biological Features( Plankton communities)3-1-PhytoplanktonResults presented in Table (3)illustrated the effect of stocking densitiesof grey mullet on phytoplanktoncommunities. The total phytoplanktonproductivity for treatments (SD 1 ); (SD 2 )and (SD 3 ) were found to be 1860; 1254 and840 thousand organism/L, respectively.Theresults in Table (3) indicate also that thehighest phytoplankton values wereobtained by the lowest density(SD 1 ) alsofollowed in a decreasing order with higherdensity, (SD 2 ) and (SD 3 ) treatments,respectively. The present study indicatedalso that green algae are the dominantgroup followed by euglena; blue greenalgae and diatoms in the all treatmentmullet groups. This means that,M.cephalus fingerlings preferred diatomsand blue green algae in their feeding habitsand this recommended by Essa and Salama(1990). This community composition ofphytoplankton reported in this study is inagreement with observations of Abdel –Hakim et al. (2000). On the other handAbd-El Tawab (1994) gave differentcommunity compositions ofphytoplankton, which may be due to thedifferences in the ecological conditions ofthe ecosystems studied.48

BAKEERTable (3): Average numbers of phytoplankton and zooplankton in the ponds water of mullet,reared at different densities.Org anisms(SD 1 )(SD 2 )(SD 3 )1fish/m 3 2fish/m 3 3fish/m 3Phytoplankton (thousands organism / L)Blue green algae 420 400 309Green algae 680 558 410Diatoms 230 188 120Euglena 600 508 310(Biomass)Thou. org./L 1860 1254 840% of the smallest value 179.76% 149.28% 100%Zooplankton (organism / L)Rotifera 2551 2120 1840Copepoda 86 51 26Cladocera 95 80 46Crustacea 1610 850 620(Biomass) org./L 4342 3101 2526% of the smallest value 171.89% 122.76% 100%B) Survival Ratepreferred crustacean organisms in theirfeeding habits and the results of Essa andSalama (1990) recommended this finding.These results may be due to the feedinghabits of mullet species. The resultsindicted that the community compositionof phytoplankton and zooplankton in alltreatment ponds fluctuated greatly withstocking densities and feeding habits ofmullet whether phytoplanktonphagic orzooplanktonphagicAverages survival rate as affected bydifferent stocking densities are presentes inTable (4). The results revealed that thereare no significant differences in survivalrate , which has ranged between 85.3 %and 85.7 % in all treatments. Generally ,the survival rate of grey mullet exceeded85% in all treatments and it did not appearto be affected by the stocking densities.These results are in agreement with Oren,(1981) and Lupatsch et al. (2003).50

GREY MULLET REARED IN MONOCULTURE IN THE NEW DESERT AREASTable (4): Effect of stocking density on growth performance of grey mullet (Mugil cephalus).TreatmentsAvg. Initialbodyweightg/fishAvg. finalBodyweightg/ fishAvg.weightgaing/fishGrowthrateg/ day% of thesmallestvalue%survivalrate(SD 1 ) 10.0 a 210 a 200 a 0.89 a % 141.26a 85.3 a(SD 2 ) 9.8 a 205.8 ab 196 ab 0.87 ab %138.09ab 85.7 a(SD 3 ) 10.2 a 150.5 b 140.3 b 0.63 b % 100b 85.4 aMeans with common superscripts in each column were not significantly difference at the 5%level.affected the chemical composition ofC) Growth performanceM.cephalus body, The lipid content washigher in highest density (SD 3 ), whileAs shown in Table (4) the averagefinal body weight of grey mullet were 210 ,205.8 and 150.5 g. for (SD 1 ) ; (SD 2 ) and(SD 3 ), respectively. Daily gains wereprotein content was lowest compared toother treatments .Moisture and ash contentsof fish were some what similar and showedno trends related to stocking rates .between 0.63 and 0.89 g/day. Thesevalues are in agreement with that report byThese values are in a partlyOjaveer et al. (1996) , Abe- El Tawab andYones (2001) and Abdel Hakim et al.(2006) who found that the growth of greymullet was influenced by the differentagreement with that reported by Hepher(1988) who reported that stocking rate hadaffected the consuming natural food,organisms contain low energy , whilestocking densities, fertilization and protein is in excess, therefore it is expectedsupplementary feeding which led to bestgrowth of M. cephalues. The obtainedresults reported that the stocking rate of 2that low stocking density fish consumingnatural food have minimal fat and maximalprotein accumulation in their body.fish/m 3 led to assign the largest growth ofgrey mullet.E) Total fish production (kg/Feddan)D) Chemical composition of whole bodyThe chemical compositions of thewhole body of grey mullet at the end of thestudy showed in Table (5). The differencestocking rates (1,2,3 fish/m 3 ) markedlyTotal fish yield (kg / Feddan) of thegrey mullet in relation to stocking rates arepresented in Table (6). Results revealedthat total fish yields at harvesting for(SD 1 ); (SD 2 ) and (SD 3 ) were found to be895.65; 1763.70 and 1927.90 kg51

BAKEERTable (5): Proximate chemical composition of whole body of grey mullet reared in pondsstocked with different densities .Treatments Moisture %Crude protein%Fat% Ash%Initial 80.22 a ±0.1258.80 c ±0.2211.20c ±0.1229.9 a ±0.18Final Stocking rate(SD 1 )76.19 b ±0.5361.32 a ±1.4012.98 b ±0.1225.71 a ±1.56Final Stocking rate(SD 2 )76.94 b ±0.2461.68 a ±0.6712.85 b ±0.0825.37 a ±0.54Final Stocking rate(SD 3 )73.36 c ±0.5360.51 b ±0.6513.84 a ±0.1525.65 a ±0.85Means with common superscripts in each column were not significantly difference at the 5%level.Table (6): Economical Efficiency of grey mullet (kg/feddan) in L.E.Item (SD 1 ) (SD 2 ) (SD 3 )Production kg./feddan 895.65 1763.70 1927.90% of the smallest value 100% 196.9% 215.25%(A) Operating costsFish fingerlings 3750 7500 11250Food 3642.29 622569 8916.53Chicken manure 200 200 200(B )Fixed costTaxes 100 100 100Labor 300 300 300Depreciation 100 100 100Total fixed cost 500 500 500(C) Total costs (kg./feddan) 8092.29 14425.69 20866.53(D) ReturnTotal Return /feddan 11195.62 22046.25 21206.9Net Return /feddan 3103.33 7620.56 340.37(E) % Net returns to total costs 27.71% 34.56% 1.60%The economical evaluation of results carried out according market price in 2005 in L.E.52

GREY MULLET REARED IN MONOCULTURE IN THE NEW DESERT AREASFish / Feddan respectively. These resultsindicate that increasing the stocking ratesfrom 1 to 2 fish/m 3 resulted in an increasein fish total yield by 96.9 % and a furtherincrease in the stocking rate 3 fish /m 3resulted in increase in the total yield by115.25% but with no increases inprofitability compared to the loweststocking rate 1 fish/m 3 . These results mayindicate that in monoculture system of greymullet stocking rate 2 fish/m 3 is requiredfor better yield. These results areagreement with Abd-El Tawab (1994) andAbd-El Tawab and Yones (2001).Regarding to the more effective stockingratio 2 fish/m 3 for marketable size, it wasobvious that the stocked 2 fish/m 3 in pondswere valuable (Table, 6), since producedabout 60% of the total fish production asan marketable size, followed by 1 fish /m 3 .These results led also to conclude that thestocking rate of 2 fish/m 3 led to assigneconomic value.ACKNOWLEDGMENTAppreciation is extended to Mr.Mamduoh. Ibrahim Nossiear head ofAquaculture Department, Behira RuralDevelopment Project ,for providing helpand assistance during the study.Digestibility of feed and growthresponse of grey Mullet (Mugilcephalus L.) fed on natural food and /or formulated diet in fresh water ponds.Egypt J. Agric. Res 73(2). 1996 .Abdel – Hakim,N.F.; Bakeer ,M.N. andSoltan, M.A. 2000.Effect of twomanuring systems on water quality andplankton communities in fish ponds.Conference of social and agriculturedevelopment of Sinai (D43 – 59) . 147-158, EL –Arish fac.of Unv.Agr.Sci.Abdel.,Hakim.N.F., Mohmmed S.Lashena; Mohammed, N. Bakeerand Adel Rahman, A. Khattaby2006. Effect of different feeding levelson growth performance and pondproductivity of Nile tilapia (Orechrmis niloticus), Grey mullet (Mugil cephalius ) and common carp(Cyprinus carpio ) reard in polyculturesystem. Egyptian J. of Aquatic Biologyand Fisheries 10(4)A.O.A.C. 1990. Official Methods ofAnalysis , 15 th edit , Association ofOfficial Analysis Chemists. PP. 1298,Virginia .REFERENCESAbd El-Ghany, A. E.; Eid, A. E; Hermis,I. H. and Ibrahim, H. I. 1996.Abd- El Tawab, A. A. M. 1994. Somestudies in effects of some mineralelements on production performance of53

BAKEERMugilidae family reared in Egyptianfish farms .M.Sc, University of theZagazic .Abd- El Tawab, A.A.M. and Yones,A.A.2001. Environmental and nutritionalstudies on rearing of mullet M.cephalusin Fayoum fish farms .Egyptian .J.Nutrition and Feeds, 4:719-730.Boyd, C.E. 1990. Water quality in pondsfor Aquaculture Alabama AgricultureExperiment Station Auburn University,Alabama. P.462.Boyd, E.C. and Tucker, C.S. 1992. Waterquality and soil analyses forAquaculture. Agricultural ExperimentStation, Aubrn University. Alabama.pp.183.Boyd E.C. and Tucker, C.S. 1998. Pondaquaculture water quality management.Kluwer , Boston.Duncan , D.B. 1955. Multiple range andmultiple F test . Biaetrics, 11 : 1-42.Essa,M.A. and Salama, M.E. 1990.Observations on the use of organicfertilizer in rearing ponds of younggrey mullet ,Mugil cephalus.Communications in Science andDevelopment Research .,Vol .31:177-194.Hepher Balfour 1988. Nutration of pondfishes, formerly of fish and aquaculturestation, Dor , Israel .The presssyndicate of the university of combridge P.P 388.Jobling, M. 1983. A short review andcritique of mythology used in fishgrowth and nutrition studies. d .fish Biv., 23 : 685 – 703.Lupatsch, I.; Ktz, T. and Angel , D.L.2003. Assessment of the removalefficiently of fish farm effluents bygrey mullets .Israel Oceanographic andLimnlogical Research , National Centerfor Mari culture , POB 1212, 88112Eilat, Israel .34(15): 1367-1377.Marai-IFM; Gabr-HA. and Akar-AM.2003. Fish polyculture as affected byculture season , stocking density andbreeds under subtropical conditions ofEgypt. Indian –Journal- of – Animal –Sciences 73: 2, 204- 208; 27 ref.MSSP 2001. Technical report, MarineAquaculture Development in Egypt.Multi –Sector Support Programmer(November, 2001) by Dr Ian Goulding.Ojaveer , H.;Morris, P.C. ;Davies , S.J.and Russell, P. 1996. Proteinrequirements of young grey mullet,Mugil capito.Aquacult ., 52 : 105-115 .Oren, OH. 1981. Aquaculture of greymullet. Book , 507pp.54

GREY MULLET REARED IN MONOCULTURE IN THE NEW DESERT AREASSamra,I.M. 2006. Some factors effectingon the growth of Nile tilapia . Thesis ofPh.D in fish production Depart. ofAnimal production. Fac. of Agric.Benha Unive.Steel, R.G.D. and Torrie J.H 1980.Principals and procedures of statistics.Mc Grow Hill Book Co. New York.Torras , X; Cardona, L. and Gisbert, E.2000. Cascading effects of the flatheadgrey mullet Mugil cephalus in freshwater eutrophic microcosmos. Aquac.Lab., Dep. Of Animal Bio. Fac.of Bio.,Univ at Avda. Diagonal 645, 08028 –Barcelona, Spain.Wurts, W.A. 2003. Daily pH cycle andammonia toxicity .World AquacultureMagazine , 34(2):20.أداء النمو لأسماك البورى الحرالمرباه فى النظام الآحادى النوع فى المناطق الصحراویة الجدیدة55

BAKEERمحمد نجیب بكیرالمعمل المركزى لبحوث الثروة السمكیة بالعباسةمركز البحوث الزراعیة ‏–الجیزةمصر –أجری ت ھ ذا الدراس ة بھ دف التع رف عل ى ت أثیر مع دل التخ زین الس مكى عل ى ج ودة المی اهوالمجموع ات البلانكتونی ة والإنت اج الكل ى والكف اءة الاقتص ادیة لأس ماك الب ورى الح ر(MugilCephalus L.)وق د ت م اس تزراع اص بعیات الب ورى ف ى ث لاث كثاف ات مختلف ة ١٣ ، ٢ ،اص بعیةللمتر المكع ب)‏ بمتوس ط وزن ± ١٠ ٠.٢٠ ج رام للس مكة الواح دة وق د ت م اس تخدا م ٦ أح واض ترابیةمساحة الحوض٥٠٠٠مت ر مرب ع واس تمرت التجربة ٨ ش ھور.‏وق د أش ارت النت ائج إل ى أن ھن اكاختلافات معنویة بین المعاملات الثلاثة فى أداء النمو وكان أفض ل مع دل نم و للأس ماك ت م الحص ولعلیھ فى معدل الكثافات الأقل مقارنة بمعدل الكثافة الأكبر على درجة معنویة ٥%وزن للأسماك ناتج من المعاملة الأولى ‎١‎سمكة/م‎٣‎٣٣سمكة/م (٢٠٥ جرام)‏ ثم المعاملة الثالثة ٣ س مكة ‏/مللأس ماك ك ان أعل ى ف ى الكثاف ة الأكبراقتصادیة مناسبة) ٢١٠ ج رام)‏) ‎١٥٠‎ج را م(.وكان أكب ر متوسطیلیھ ا ف ى الترتی ب المعامل ة الثانیة ٢وعل ى العك س ف أن الإنت اج الكلى٣‏(‏‎٣‎س مكة/م ( عن ھ ف ى الكثاف ة الأق ل ولك ن دون تحقی ق ج دوىوبناء على النتائج التى تم التحصل علیھا وكذلك التقییم الاقتصادى یمك ن أن نوص ى باس تزراعاصبعیات البورى الحر (.L (Mugil Cephalusبمتوسط وزن ١٠ جرام بمعدل كثافةسمكة للمتر 2المكعب تحت نفس ظروف التجربة فى المناطق الصحراویة الجدیدة وذلك للحصول عل ى أفض ل إنتاجوعائد اقتصادى ممكن.‏56