Aquaculture America 2020

February 9 - 12, 2020

Honolulu, Hawaii

HOGFISH Lachnolaimus maximus BROODSTOCK HUSBANDRY, HAREM FORMATION, VOLITIONAL SPAWNING, AND LARVAL REARING

 
Elizabeth Silvy*, Fred Shopnitz, Cortney Ohs, Angela Collins, Josh Patterson, and Matt DiMaggio
 Indian River Research and Education Center
University of Florida
Fort Pierce, FL 34945
esilvy@ufl.edu
 

Hogfish (Lachnolaimus maximus )  are a  valuable sport  and food fish. Hogfish are commonly targeted by recreational spear fishermen, but  also can be caught on hook and line . Recreational and commercial harvest  of hogfish in the United States is most common in Florida. From 2000 to 2015, the average number of hogfish landed annually in Florida by recreational fishermen was about 145,000  fish  with commercial landings averaging around 45,000 pounds. Given the dearth of information on hogfish aquaculture , we  are currently in the process of evaluating methodologies  to achieve two main objectives: (1 .) develop and spawn broodfish and (2 .)  define efficient egg incubation and larval culture protocols.

In 2019, the University of Florida's Indian River Research and Education Center Aquaculture Lab began collecting wild broodstock and acclimatizing them to captivity. Recreational charter captains and ornamental fish collectors that target hogfish were use d to acquire broodstock for this research.  Once fish  were brought  to the Aquaculture facility in Fort Pierce, Florida,  growth rates of three groups of (>30.5 cm) were recorded monthly. These groups were observed four times daily for behavior changes, harem formation behavior, and sex change behavior.  Changes in sexual  dimorphism and harem formation behavior were observed and were recorded daily. These behaviors included jaw locking, color change, aggression between assumed males , and mating displays .

Repeated volitional spawning occurr ed  starting  in December 2019. D ata  will be presented  on hatch rates, survival to first feeding , optimum feeding protocol and water qualit y. Additionally, a dult hogfish were subjected to anesthesia trials evaluating the  effectiveness of  Tricaine-S and Aqui-S 20E (INAD #11-741)  on various fish sizes .