The Scale-up of Spotted Rose Snapper, Lutjanus guttatus, Larval Rearing at Mazatlan, Mexico

The scale-up of spotted rose snapper, Lutjanus guttatus, larval rearing is described. Fertilized eggs (480,000) were obtained from a 1-d harvest of a natural spawning captive broodstock acclimatized for 1 yr and 6 mo in two fiberglass tanks (18 m3). Fourteen hours after spawning, 89.6% of the collected eggs were floating, of which 96.2% were transparent with live embryos. Incubation at 2526 C lasted 21 h, with 90.2 +/- 2.1% hatching percentage of normal larvae. The percentage of viable larvae at 48 h after hatching was 79.7 +/- 1.9%. Initial stocking density was 10.4 +/- 1.0 larvae/L 2 days after hatching (d.p.h.). A total of 22,600 juveniles (1256 +/- 170 juveniles/m3) were harvested from six 3-m3 cylindrical fiberglass tanks. Average survival was 12.1 +/- 1.1%. Final mean length and weight were 5.5 +/- 0.05 cm and 2.24 +/- 0.04 g, respectively. Growth expressed in total length was TL = 2.1476e0.0543t (R2 = 0.9911). Final mean biomass and condition factor were 2.8 kg/m3, 12.3% and 1.346. General length-weight ratio was W = 0.05460 LT2.2306.