Reproduction, early development and larviculture of the barber goby, Elacatinus figaro (Sazima, Moura & Rosa 1997)

The barber goby, Elacatinus figaro, is a cleaner species of ecological importance and of keen interest to the aquarium trade. Endemic to Brazil, it is a threatened species and so aquaculture is a potential solution for reducing pressure on the natural stocks. This study describes the reproductive behaviour, the embryonic and larval development and the general breeding and rearing conditions. Ten wild fish initiated the formation of breeding pairs 20 days after acclimation to captivity. Spawning started 12 days after the first pair was formed, with one female from each pair spawning from 140 to 700 eggs (n=15 spawnings). The average period of incubation of the eggs was 6.8 days at 25 degrees C. The best hatching rate was 99.5% (n=10 spawnings). Larval rearing used Nannochloropsis oculata with rotifers (Brachionus rotundiformis) as the first food (day 0-25); nauplii and meta-nauplii of Artemia were fed from day 18 until larval metamorphosis with subsequent weaning using commercial marine fish diets. The transformation to juveniles started at around the 30th day post hatch. The best larval survival rate until complete metamorphosis was 30.6% (n=4 larvicultures). After this period, the mortality was insignificant. This study demonstrated that the cultivation of barber goby is feasible.