Productive performance in winter of juveniles of Prochilodus vimboides in earthen ponds under different stocking densities

This study sought to evaluate the winter-time stocking density of juvenile curimba fish (Prochilodus vimboides) in earthen ponds, based on growth performance and morphometric parameters, using 900 juveniles of 24.91 + 0.39 g initial weight distributed among 12 nurseries of 100 m² surface area. The densities tested were 0.5, 0.75, and 1.0 fish/m³. The experimental design was completely randomized factorial with split plots and four replications. Four samplings of the fish were conducted, at the beginning and at 45, 90, and 130 d of culture, at each of which, and after a 24-h fast, 10% of the population in each pond was anesthetized and examined. Data recorded included weight, measurements of standard length and head length, and height and width of the body. At the end of the experiment all the fish were harvested to estimate the production parameters. After first verifying that the data met the basic assumptions for variance analysis, the statistical analysis proceeded. The results indicated that the stocking densities did not influence the growth performance. Various models were tested for describing growth of the species and the first degree linear one gave the best fit, according to Akaike Criterion (AIC). Given these results under the present experimental conditions, it is concluded that the wintertime juvenile stocking density of curimba of 1.0 fish/m³ provided highest productivity and caused no negative effects on animal performance.