In the old days, before refrigeration, snakeheads were one of the few fishes that could be available, fresh at the market because of their amazing ability to survive in very little water. If you’ve seen River Monster’s episode on snakeheads, you will see their amazing ability to travel across land in search of more suitable habitats. There is also folklore that they have eaten small dogs and babies! But as the show reveals, these are myths; they do not eat cats, dogs and people. They do however, eat frogs and other small aquatic critters.
The Chinese may eat snakehead fish because it is believed to help with wound healing and can be part of the confinement period diet of new mothers.
So, there is demand for the fish as food. The paper below addresses one of the many aspects of fish farming that needed to be nutted out – the ideal stocking density.
Aquaculture Research
Volume 43, Number 2 (January 2012)
Growth and production performance of threatened snakehead fish, Channa striatus(Bloch), at different stocking densities in earthen ponds
Authors: M Aminur Rahman 1, A Arshad1,2, S M Nurul Amin 2
Author Affiliations: 1: Laboratory of Marine Science and Aquaculture, Institute of Bioscience, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia
2: Department of Aquaculture, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia
Source: Aquaculture Research, Volume 43, Number 2 (January 2012)
Page Numbers: 297 – 302
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Abstract: Production trials of threatened snakehead fish (Channa striatus) were carried out under different stocking densities in earthen ponds of Bangladesh. The average weight and length of the fingerlings during stocking was 17.63 ± 1.23 g and 13.21 ± 0.52 cm. Fingerlings were stocked at 5000 ha-1in treatment-1 (T1), 6250 ha-1in treatment-2 (T2) and 7500 ha-1in treatment-3 (T3) respectively. Fish in all the experimental ponds were fed with supplementary feed comprising of fish meal (30%) and mustard oilcake (70%) at the rate of 3–6% of estimated body weight two times per day. In addition, trash fish were supplied at the rate of 2–3% of the estimated biomass on each alternate day. In situwater quality parameters of the pond were within the suitable range for fish culture. The growth and survival of fingerlings were significantly higher in T1than in T2and T3. The food conversion ratio was significantly lower (P<0.05) in T1than in T2and T3. The estimated gross and net production of fish was higher in T1, followed by T2and T3. Overall, the highest growth, survival and production were obtained from T1. Therefore, it could be concluded that of 5000 fingerlings ha-1is the most suitable stocking density for culturing C. striatusunder a monoculture system in the earthen ponds for better production.
Citation: M Aminur Rahman, A Arshad, S M Nurul Amin . Growth and production performance of threatened snakehead fish, Channa striatus(Bloch), at different stocking densities in earthen ponds. Aquaculture Research, Volume 43, Number 2 (January 2012), pp. 297-302,
URL: http://ejournals.ebsco.com/direct.asp?ArticleID=48F38ACC09A11A3170AC
