Effects of High Salinity on Survival, Growth, and Reproductive performance of Red Tilapia (Oreochromis urolepis hornorum ♀× Oreochromis mossambicus ♂)

Abstract

This study estimated the survival, growth, and fry production of red tilapia (Oreochromis urolepis hornorum ♀× Oreochromis mossambicus ♂) broodstock in outdoors farming conditions at various salinity levels (1‰, 25‰, 33‰, 39‰, and 42‰) at 25.3°C–39.0°C. The experiments were conducted in triplicates in 2020 using 300 broodstock per group. The survival rate, growth performance, and fry production were monitored. Our results showed that red tilapia fry production and grow-out farming were feasible under high salinity conditions; however, the various levels of salinity condition exhibited significant differences in terms of survival rate, growth performance, fry production. The results suggest that red tilapia broodstock was maintained under salinity as high as 33‰ without impairing fry production; above 33‰ was feasible for the grow-out stage, implying that the fry production in euryhaline tilapia farming would be practical in regions where freshwater acclimation is limited.