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Abstract
The spotted catfish (Arius maculatus) belongs to Ariidae family. They can be found throughout the estuaries of Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia or the Philippines. A commercially valuable species, the spotted catfish is a potential candidate for aquaculture in Vietnam. In this study, monthly samplings were conducted from Tran De estuary, Soc Trang province from November 2017 to October 2018. The results showed that Arius maculatus breed all year round with two main breeding seasons in March and August. Specifically, the highest Gonadosomatic index which occurred in March was 3.42% and the rate of fish gonads reaching stage IV was 32.50%, GSI was 1.98% and maturation rate was 34.29% in August. In contrast to GSI, index HSI was relatively low in March (1.39%) and August (1.08%). Fecundity was low with 16±3 Yolks per female and 144±60 Hyalines.
Keywords: Arius maculatus, breeding season, estuary, spotted catfish