Induced breeding of African Jewelfish Hemichromis bimaculatus (Gill, 1862) using gonadotropic signaling molecular analogue WOVA-FH

The present experiment was conducted to breed African Jewelfish, Hemichromis bimaculatus Gill, 1862 (Family Cichlidae) in captivity through GnRH based gonadotropic signalling molecular analogue WOVA-FH. All the sets induced at different dosage were bred except low dosage and control sets. Spawning success rate varied on the rate of inducement. WOVA- FH at a dose of 0.5 mL kg−1 for female and 0.3 mL kg−1 for male was found to be effective with 79-80% fertilization and 85-86% hatching rate from 500 to 550 eggs/female. Dose of hormone apparently affected the latency period (6-12hrs), egg output (180-520), fertilization (31-79%) and hatching rate (68-86%). Administering an over-dose of the inducing agents resulted in poor fertilization (31±2.2%) and under-dosing caused no inducement in animals. The present breeding protocol is simple and can be taken up by small breeders. It will be helpful in development of aquariculture and conservation of H. bimaculatus.