Pregnant mare’s serum gonad hormones and anti- dopamine treatments on the maturation of snakehead (Channa striata)

The application of hormonal treatments to accelerate fish maturation has been well implemented in aquaculture. However, the optimal results of hormonal treatment much depend on target species relation to dose, frequency and time periods of implementation. This research aimed to determine the optimal dose of a combination of hormone from pregnant mare serum gonad (PMSG) hormone and anti-dopamine (AD) to induce the gonad maturation on snakehead (Channa striata). Hormonal treatments of 1.5 mL, 1.75 mL, and 2 mL per kg of body weight were induced intramuscularly, in the dorsal part of broodstocks with a mean weight of 261.74 ±6.38 g, and a mean length of 32.9±1.9 cm, with 3 fish in each treatment. The effects of the treatments on gonadal maturation were observed, egg diameter was measured and estradiol-17β concentrations were determined every 30 days for 90 days. The results showed that the PMSG+AD dose of 2 mL kg^-1 body weight produced an egg diameter of 1.45±0.023 mm, significantly different from the other treatments, 1.32±0.073 mm for the dose of 1.5 mL kg^-1 body weight and 1.33±0.035 for the dose of 1.75 mL kg^-1 body weight. Congruent with egg diameter, the dose of 2 mL kg^-1 body weigth produced the highest estradiol-17β concentration, 105.07±0.550 ng mL-1 (P<0.05), while the concentration were 79.07±0.378 ng mL^-1 for the dose hormone of 1.5 mL kg-1 body weight, and 75.03±0.585 ng mL^-1 for the dose hormone of 1.75 mL kg^-1 body weight. The study concludes that the highest dose of hormone treatment enables better results, but the optimum dose still needs to be explored.