Musculoskeletal abnormalities in hatchery reared silver pompano, Trachinotus blochii (Lacépède, 1801)

Musculoskelatal deformities in hatchery-reared silver pompano Trachinotus blochii (Lacepede, 1801) are reported here. In a batch of hatchery-reared silver pompano juveniles, 6.9% had deformities of musculoskeletal tissue. While majority (97.9 %) of these deformities were manifested in the form of a depression in the musculoskeletal tissue anterior to dorsal fin, 1.3% of juveniles had the depression exclusively anterior to anal fin and 0.8% juveniles had the depressions anterior to both dorsal and anal fins. Radiographic images revealed that some fish had deformities limited exclusively to the muscle with no involvement of the skeletal tissues. However, other affected fish had deformities involving both muscle and the skeletal tissues resulting in fusion of the vertebrae, lateral and ventral curvatures of the vertebral column, shortening of neural spines and underdevelopment of radial bones.