Salinity tolerance of new tilapia hybrid at varying salinity levels

Abstract

The study was conducted to determine the salinity tolerance of a new tilapia hybrid from the cross of Oreochromis aureus x Oreochromis mossambicus. A total of 144 new hybrid (1.2g) were used in the study. One hundred twenty (120) of which were directly stocked in 20 pieces plastic container (5L capacity) at different salinity levels (0, 3, 5, 10 and 15ppt) and tested for 96 hours. Some 24 pieces were subjected to increasing salinity levels (from 3ppt and increased of 3ppt daily until 30ppt) for 216 hrs. The same sizes and stocking density (2pcs/L) were used in the study. The new hybrid were fed with fry mash at a rate of 5% BW. Results of the study revealed that the new hybrid have high tolerance to salinity. For the whole duration of the experiment, only one (1) mortality was noted (T6, 15ppt). The rest (143 or 99.31%) of the new hybrids in all treatments including those tested for increasing salinity levels (up to 30ppt) survived until the last day of the experiment.