83 Larviculture and seed production of the silver pompano, Trachinotus blochii (Lacepede, 1801) for the first time in India A. K. ABDUL NAZAR, R. JAYAKUMAR, G. TAMILMANI, M. SAKTHIVEL, C. KALIDAS, P. RAMESH KUMAR, M. ANBARASU, S. SIRAJUDEEN, V. BALAMURUGAN, M. JAYASINGH AND G. GOPAKUMAR Mandapam Regional Centre of Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute Mandapam - 623 520, Tamil Nadu, India e-mail: drggopakumar@gmail.com ABSTRACT Larviculture and seed production protocols for the silver pompano Trachinotus blochii, which is one of the promising finfish species for brackishwater and marine aquaculture was developed based on six trials for the first time in India. The newly hatched larvae were stocked at a density of 20 larvae l -1 in 2 t FRP tanks with 1.5 t of seawater. Green water technique was employed during larviculture upto the weaning period. Enriched S-type rotifers were fed at a density of 10-12 nos. ml -1 until 3 day post hatch (dph) and the enriched L-type rotifers were given at a density of 6-8 nos. ml -1 from 7 dph and thereafter with enriched Artemia at a density of 3-5 nos. ml -1 . Weaning started from 15 dph and by 20-25 dph metamorphosis was completed. The survival on completion of metamorphosis ranged from 10-15% and the specific growth rate in terms of length (mm) was 8% per day. The larval morphology and growth pattern are also described. Keywords: Artemia nauplii, Green water technique, Larviculture, Rotifer, Silver pompano, Survival, Trachinotus blochii Introduction The silver pompano, Trachinotus blochii is one of the suitable candidate species for aquaculture due to its fast growth, good meat quality and high market demand. Further, silver pompano grows excellently in low salinity (as low as 8 ppt) (Gopakumar et al., 2011) and has good adaptability to different farming environments. This species easily accept artificial feeds as it is omnivorous and has a rapid and uniform growth rate compared to other farmed fishes (Chavez et al., 2011). It can be successfully cultured in tanks, ponds and cages. This species is caught sporadically in commercial fishery and therefore its availability is rather scarce in fish markets. Though the seed production and farming of the Florida pompano, Trachinotus carolinus has been established much earlier (Moe et al., 1968; Hoff et al., 1972, 1978; McMaster, 1988), until recently there was no focused research on pompano aquaculture in India. Although silver pompano is a good candidate for aquaculture, its hatchery production is not without problems. Even the availability of brooders from wild for initiating the breeding trials is limited and the availability of male brooders from the wild is furthermore scarce. Due to its potential in mariculture, major thrust was given by the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) Indian J. Fish., 59(3) : 83-87, 2012 1 for captive broodstock development since the year 2007 and the first success in breeding and seed production of silver pompano was achieved at Mandapam Regional Centre of CMFRI in 2011 (Gopakumar et al., 2012). Trials on larviculture were conducted to develop a protocol for seed production. Published reports on the larviculture of silver pompano are very scarce except the one reported by Juniyanto et al. (2008). The results of larviculture and seed production conducted at Mandapam Regional Centre of CMFRI are described in the present paper. Materials and methods The fertilized eggs obtained from captive broodstock developed as reported in our earlier publication (Gopakumar et al., 2012) were counted and incubated in 2 t capacity circular fibre reinforced plastic (FRP) tanks with mild aeration. The eggs hatched between 34 to 36 h of incubation. The newly hatched larvae were stocked in rectangular FRP tanks of 2 t capacity. Each FRP tank was filled to a volume of 1.5 t of dechlorinated seawater. The larvae were stocked at a density of 20 nos. l -1 . The number of tanks employed varied with the number of newly hatched larvae obtained in each spawning. The aeration in the tanks was increased slightly during larviculture. Larviculture tanks were provided with green water, feeding was initiated