Studies on the Salinity Tolerance, Food Preference and Broodstock Development of Malabar Puffer, Carinotetraodon travancoricus (Hora & Nair, 1941)

Abstract- Western Ghats is one among the 25 global hotspots of biodiversity harboring very rich flora and fauna. Enriched unique sets of plant and animal species present delights our eyes with their array of color patterns and so it became a mainstay in ornamental trade. Carinotetraodon travancoricus is one such species which have high export value among indigenous fish species and supposed to have chance to explore as a future model vertebrate as like zebra fish and medaka fish.
The present study focused on developing mass production protocols and related studies like brood stock development, food and feeding, compatibility and salinity tolerance. The gut content analysis of the species reveals the carnivorous nature of the species showing similarity to their counter parts. Major portion were crustacean and insect parts (27.97%), zooplanktons (26.68%), algae (20.07%) etc. They have comparable biocontrol properties that of established species like Gambusia. In addition they can be used to control the molluscs like snails in aquaria and water bodies. In community tank, it is found to be non-compatible with slow moving long finned inmates since they have fin nipping behavior. The species is found to be tolerant to high salinities even up to 35ppt showing a marine lineage trend, but started showing irregularities in vitality after 20ppt. Both males and females were found to get mature under captive condition. There were female mortalities due to aggressive courtship by males. The gonadal dissection and microscopic examination proved that they had fully mature oocytes upto the size ranges of 1.0 – 1.14 mm. Histology of gonads shows presence of different stage of oocytes in same gonad with an oocyte size of 22.5-336 ϻm. Males were found to be fully mature and exhibited territoriality and peculiar courtship movements. Studies regarding this species are scarce and have a huge scope of exploration in the fields of developmental biology, genetics and toxicological studies.