Induced spawning by LHRHa and pimozide in the Asian catfish Clarias macrocephalus (Gunther)

Experiments were conducted to determine the optimum dose of luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone analogue (LHRHa) and pimozide (PIM) injected simultaneously to yield a high ovulation rate and produce sufficient eggs in the Asian catfish Clarias macrocephalus . In June 1990, injection of 0.05 or 0.10 μg LHRHa/g body weight (BW) + 1 μg PIM/g resulted in 100% ovulation, while only 80% of gravid catfish injected 0.025 μg LHRHa + 1 μg PIM/g ovulated. Most of the eggs stripped from 6 out of 8 control fish were not mature. Fertilization and hatching rates of LHRHa + PIM-induced fish (75–90% and 39–51%, respectively) were higher than those of control fish (36–39% and 0–1% respectively). In August and September 1990, at gravid catfish ovulated after injection of 0.05–0.10 μg LHRHa + 1 μg PIM/g BW. However, only 20% of the fish given 0.025 μg LHRHa/g + 1 μg PIM/g BW in August ovulated. No eggs could be striped from any of the control fish in August and September 1990. Techniques developed in this study, showed a simple and effective way of spawning captive catfish, C. macrocephalus . A simultaneous intramuscular injection of 0.05 μg LHRHa + 1 μg PIM/g and stripping of eggs at 16–20 h post-injection have been tested to yield high ovulation, fertilization and hatching rates.