Polyculture and growth of the Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus (Perciformes:Cichlidae) with shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei (Decapoda:Penaeidae) in sea water

Abstract

Globally, the tilapia is the second most important group of commercial fish. Polyculture and growth were studied for 181 Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus, in a seawater pond (30-37‰) at a density of 50 fish/m3 for six months (October to April) with 30 shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei at a density of 8 shrimp/m3 in two months (December-February) in an open tank of 3,6 m3. They were fed Camaronina”pellets” at libitum in the morning. The pond bottom was siphoned every other day, was maintained with constant aeration. Water exchange was 80% every two weeks. The temperature varied from 18 to 32oC. The tilapia grew from 72mm to 220mm, and 7g to 232g, survival was 92%. The total biomass was 38,6 kg. The shrimp grew from 6,8 g to 11,5 g and 102mm to 121mm. The survival rate was 100%. Total biomass was 219g. The feed conversion ratio (FCR) was 1,3:1,0 in both species. There was no problem between species; this polyculture is recommended. KEY WORDS Polyculture, growth, Litopenaeus vannamei, Oreochromis niloticus, biomass, density