Volume 12, Issue 25, January - June 2026

Growth and condition of Indian major carps (Catla catla, Labeo rohita and Cirrhinus mrigala) cultured in earthen ponds with saline water

Ujjania NC^1♦, Manish Pradhan¹, Ujjania VK²

¹Department of Aquatic Biology (VNSGU), Surat (Gujarat), India
²Division of Aquaculture (ICAR-CIFE), Mumbai (Maharashtra), India

^♦Corresponding author
Ujjania NC, Department of Aquatic Biology (VNSGU), Surat (Gujarat), India

ABSTRACT

The objective of present study was to determine the growth and condition of Indian major carps (Catla catla, Labeo rohita, and Cirrhinus mrigala) reared in a saline water earthen pond. The fish specimens and water samples were collected during April to June 2024. The morphometric measurements like total length, standard length, and weight were taken from 260 fish specimens and were used for growth and condition estimation. In contrast, water samples were used to analyse the critical water quality parameters, including temperature, pH, salinity, dissolved oxygen, nitrate-N, nitrite- N, ammonical-N, and total hardness, to assess the conduciveness of the aquatic environment of the studied pond. The range and mean values of total length 19.00- 49.50 cm (29.61±1.11), 8.00-45.00 cm (24.97±0.55), and 20.40-40.50 cm (26.70±0.58), standard length 15.50-40.00 cm (23.73±0.88), 14.50-39.50 cm (20.28±0.46) and 15.50- 34.00 (21.80±0.47) and weight 94.00-1953.00 g (480.26±64.69), 60.00-759.00 g (206.04±15.77) and 77.00-688.00 (223.96±17.79) were observed for the studied fish catla, rohu and mrigal respectively. The critical water quality parameters were noted to be water temperature (30.8-39.0 ℃), pH (7.60-8.30), salinity (5.16-7.27 ppt), dissolved oxygen (5.60-6.90 ppm), nitrate-N (4.80-5.00 ppm), nitrite-N (0.19-0.25 ppm), ammonical-N (0.20-0.25 ppm) and total hardness (220.00-300.00 ppm) were noted from the studied pond during the study. Indian major carps are mainly cultivated in freshwater resources. However, the present study has revealed that they can also be reared in earthen ponds containing saline water with 100% survival, good growth, and optimal conditions. The results of the current research not only help to utilize salt-affected areas or empty shrimp ponds to cultivate freshwater fish, but also help to generate employment and income for fish farmers.

Keywords: Catla, rohu, mrigal, length-weight relationship, condition, growth, saline water, and earthen pond

Discovery Agriculture, 2026, 12, e1da3173

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Published: 09 January 2026