Striped catfish (Pangasianodon hypophthalmus) occur in freshwater and brackish water bodies in Asian countries. However, there are few published papers on the effects of salinity on the physiological characteristics of the striped catfish although seawater levels are predicted to increase in the future. | Journal of Fisheries science and Technology Special issue - 2015 THE EFFECT OF SALINITY ON GROWTH PERFORMANCE AND OSMOREGULATION OF STRIPED CATFISH (PANGASIANODON HYPOPTHALMUS) Nguyen Van Kiem1, Nguyen Chi Linh1 ASTRACT Striped catfish (Pangasianodon hypophthalmus) occur in freshwater and brackish water bodies in Asian countries. However, there are few published papers on the effects of salinity on the physiological characteristics of the striped catfish although seawater levels are predicted to increase in the future. Therefore, this study investigated the tolerance of striped catfish to a range of salinities. Striped catfish (length 4-6 cm) were acclimated to saline water, and growth and survival rates were determined from fish reared in different salinities (0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18 ‰). After rearing 60 days, the results showed that the iso-osmotic point was 10‰ (223± mOsm/kg). The survival rate at different salinities was ranged from – . In the treatments below 8 ‰, growth rate and survival rate were higher than in the other treatments and the highest growth and survival rates were found at 4 ‰ (, ) and the lowest at 12 ‰ ( g/day, ). Keywords: Pagasianodon hypophthalmus, osmolality, salinity I. INTRODUCTION The striped catfish (Pagasianodon hypophthalmus) is one of the major fish species cultured in the Mekong Delta due to the high quality of meat and high export value (Long et al, 2014). The striped catfish grows quickly and can be spawned in culture conditions (Kiem & Thanh, 2013). Past research has focused on spawning and grow out and this species has also been used for studies on nutrition and disease resistance (Hang et al., 2008). However, the domestication and culture of striped catfish at different salinities has not been studied. This is important considering predictions for sea level rise of up to 12 cm by 2020, meaning many low inland areas will be inundated with saline water (Long et al. .
