Malaga crossbreeding a success
ANOTHER BREAKTHROUGH
THE Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) based in Dagupan City has made a breakthrough in the hybridization of malaga (siganid), coming out with a new species from crossbreeding of Siganus gutattus and S. vermiculatus.
The resulting species has been named Siganus vergu, according to Dr. Westly Rosario, chief of the BFAR-National Integrated Fisheries Technology Development Center (NIFTDC) in Dagupan.
“The point that we had crossbred is already considered a breakthrough as there is no report yet that it had been done before,” Rosario said.
The challenge now, he added, is how to propagate siganid in hatcheries as two of its major problems is long larval rearing period of 60 days compared to bangus’ only 18 to 21 days, and it is sensitive to water quality which lead to low survival rate at present.
The one-week old result of the matching is now about five millimeters long.
Rosario said they are setting another spawning trial to continue breeding.
BFAR experts went on trial using seven sets in seven tanks, each tank with a sex ratio of one female to two males and an initial larval density of 50,000 larvae.
The BFAR- NIFTDC started the breeding experiments of Siganus guttatus and S. Vermiculatus in 2010 using the hatchery facilities devoted to bangus (milkfish) production.
Farmers currently culture two species of siganids, the S. guttatus which is small but heavy and vermiculatus, which is fast growing and larger.
Siganid is one of the top three interest species of scientists in the world aside from tilapia and bangus
MALAGA COUNTRY
Based on the study conducted by WorldFish-Department of Science and Technology and BFAR-NIFTDC, both species are being cultured by fishfarmers in Barangay Sabangan, Binmaley town, Pangasinan, which is known as malaga country.
The same study also reports that filamentous algae or lumot is known as a natural food for milkfish and siganids. Farmers said that aside from lumot, other vegetable materials such as hydrilla, water hyacinth and coconut leaves are also given as food to siganids.
The Center has already dispersed 40,214 fingerlings to fishfarmers in Binmaley, Ilocos Sur and La Union and had conducted seminars and trainings for fishfarmers.—Eva Visperas
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