Estimation of the ideal dosage and feeding frequency for Garra rufa (Cyprinidae)
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1
MARE – Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, School of Tourism and Maritime Technology, Polytechnic Institute of Leiria, Portugal
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2
MARE – Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, Department of Life Sciences, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, University of Coimbra, Portugal
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3
CFE - Centre for Functional Ecology, Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, Portugal
Garra rufa are widely used in skin treatments at beauty and wellness institutes. This freshwater species is native from Eurasia and has a large distribution area, including river basins in Turkey and Iran. It has a high commercial value and arouse interest among fish farmers. Even so,
G. rufa methods of production are still unknown. In fact, aspects that sustain a rapid and healthy growth of these fish need to be investigated, like an adequate daily dose and feeding frequency. This work aimed to establish: 1) the optimal feed dose per day, correspondent to the amount necessary for obtaining satiation, with a commercial granulated food; and 2) the optimal frequency of feeding for intensive production of G. rufa in Aquaculture. A total of 60 fishes underwent a 3 weeks acclimation period in laboratory, distributed by 6 aquaria, containing 10 fishes with similar body weight and length. The animals were initially fed with a dose correspondent to 10% of their body weight. This dose was gradually increased until complete satiation of the fishes. An optimal dose of 0.04 g fish-1 day-1 was found. Afterwards, the same fishes went through a 1 month experimental trial to evaluate the ideal feeding frequency. Fish growth was compared between feeding 0.2 g twice per day and 0.1333 g three times per day. Variations in size (total and fork length), plus body weight were evaluated at the end of the trial. One-Way ANOVA procedures revealed that the variations in weight and in fork length were similar between treatments, but the variation in total length was significantly higher with 3 daily feeding moments (p<0.05). In conclusion, the present results showed that the optimal dose that ensures satiation for G. rufa is 0.04 g fish-1 day-1 and that 3 daily feeding moments promotes higher growth rates.
Acknowledgements
This work was developed in the scope of the project “SpaGaRufa – Production of the fish Garra rufa for therapeutic purposes”, an Ignition Fund INOV C, co-financed by the Operational Programme of the Centre Region (+ CENTRO), National Strategic Reference Framework (QREN 2007-2013) and the European Fund for Regional Development, developed by GIRM-IPL – Group of Investigation in Marine Resources from the Polytechnic Institute of Leiria.
Keywords:
Aquaculture,
Diet,
Doctor fish,
Growth,
ad libitum
Conference:
XV European Congress of Ichthyology, Porto, Portugal, 7 Sep - 11 Sep, 2015.
Presentation Type:
Poster Presentation
Topic:
Physiology, Behavior and Toxicology
Citation:
Catarino
M,
Gomes
M,
Gonçalves
S and
Ferreira
S
(2015). Estimation of the ideal dosage and feeding frequency for Garra rufa (Cyprinidae).
Front. Mar. Sci.
Conference Abstract:
XV European Congress of Ichthyology.
doi: 10.3389/conf.fmars.2015.03.00076
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Received:
11 Nov 2015;
Published Online:
17 Nov 2015.
*
Correspondence:
Prof. Susana M. F. Ferreira, MARE – Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, School of Tourism and Maritime Technology, Polytechnic Institute of Leiria, Peniche, 2520-641, Portugal, susana.ferreira@ipleiria.pt