Crossbreeding of Pangasius hypophtalmus and Pangasius nasutus and digestive system development of the hybrid larvae

Abstract

A study to determine the feasibility of producing hybrid of Pangasius spp through crossbreeding between Pangasius hypophthalmus and Pangasius nasutus were conducted from June to August 2007. The result of the crossbreeding between P. hypophthalmus female and P. nasutus male (HN) showed a good breeding performance, where the average fertilization, hatching and deformation rates were 81.17%, 83.06% and 8.51%, respectively. However, crossbreeding between P. nasutus female and P. hypophthalmus male (NH) resulted in low breeding performance with the average fertilization, hatching and deformation rates at 60.96%, 54.61% and 14.68%, respectively. For the control, P. hypophthalmus (HH), the average fertilization, hatching and deformation rates were 93.18%, 89.73% and 4.14%, respectively; and for P. nasutus (NN), the average fertilization, hatching and deformation rates were 76.83%, 68.26% and 7.16%, respectively. Larval rearing up to 6 weeks after hatching (6 wAH), showed that survival rate of HN was intermediate of both the parental species, with an average value of 73.33%, while, NH showed a lower survival rate with an average of 43.67%.