Entirely Farm-raised Snubnose Pompano (Trachinotus blochii) Under High Salinity in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Snubnose pompano (Trachinotus blochii), a species of economic importance in the Red Sea region, has shown aquaculture potential in Saudi Arabia. The unique environment of the Red Sea causes aquaculture systems to operate under high salinity (42‰–45‰), but there is a lack of information regarding the culture of snubnose pompano in these conditions. This study estimated the survival, growth, and farming costs of snubnose pompano in two production systems: indoor and outdoor tanks. The experiments were performed in triplicate in 2020–2021, with 100 sub-adult fish per production system. The survival rate, growth performance, natural sexual maturation, and farming costs were determined. The results indicated that snubnose pompano culture is feasible under high salinity conditions using the indoor production system considering the significant differences in survival rate and growth performance, although the outdoor system had lower feed and labor costs. After 550 days of rearing, the sub-adult fish weighed more than 1,100–1,200 g, and both males and females had sexually mature gonads. These results show that spawning can be induced in high salinity (42‰) conditions. This study was the first to successfully farm-raise snubnose pompano in Saudi Arabia. Our results can thus be used as a reference for related research and aquaculture development in the Middle East region.