Spawning and Development of Larvae and Juveniles of the Indian Ocean Oriental Sweetlips, Plectorhinchus vittatus (Linnaeus, 1758), in the Aquarium

The aim of this study was to report the successful results on voluntary spawning of Plectorhinchus vittatus, a description of larval and juvenile development stages, and appropriate first-feed items for pilot-scale larviculture systems. Spontaneous spawning of P. vittatus in captivity from 11 April to 22 June, 2009, was described for the first time. Over a 73-d period, the female produced 49 spawns, 75.1% of which resulted in fertile eggs. The average fecundity per spawn was 4170 eggs (range 20907080 eggs). Fertilized eggs were spherical, buoyant, and had a diameter of 0.80 +/- 0.02 mm (mean +/- SD). Newly hatched larvae were 1.90 +/- 0.06 mm in total length (TL) with 28 myomeres. Transformation of larvae to the juvenile stage was completed at 9.58 +/- 0.69 mm TL. A statistical model: Y = (Xx 0.5034) - (X2x 0.0004) - 0.5883, where Y is mean TL (mm) and X represents days post hatch, explained 99.57% of variation in growth (P < 0.001, R2 = 0.9957). The effects of live feed on survival was significantly (P < 0.05) higher in larvae fed a combination of diet (rotifers, copepods, and Artemia) than the others. These results indicate that P. vittatus is a potential species for captive breeding programs and the use of a combination of diet may be a suitable first food for the larviculture.