Rearing of Procypris rabaudi during early life-history stages

The early life‐history of Chinese rock carp Procypris rabaudi was investigated during a 56‐day rearing period: 318 artificially propagated P. rabaudi larvae were reared throughout metamorphosis in a small‐scale recirculation system (345 L water volume, 10 × 18 L rearing tanks, 150 L storage and filter compartment with bioballs, 20–30 larvae L^?1) at the Institute of Hydrobiology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. The newly hatched larvae had an initial total length of 8.93 ± 0.35 mm SD (n = 10) at 3 days post‐hatch and reached an average total length of 33.29 mm (±1.88 mm SD, n = 10) 56 days after hatching. Length increment averaged 0.45 mm day^?1, resulting in a mean growth of 24.4 mm within the 56‐day period. High mortality rates of up to 92% derived from an introduced fungus infection and subsequent treatment stress with malachite green. Our results indicate that Chinese rock carp can be raised successfully from artificially fertilized eggs. We therefore assume this species to be a candidate for commercial aquaculture.