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Abstract
Salinity is one of the crucial environmental factors that greatly influence marine fish aquaculture in general; however, its specific effects on the giant trevally (Caranx ignobilis) have not been thoroughly investigated. This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of different salinity levels on growth, survival rate, and feed utilization efficiency of giant trevally (Caranx ignobilis) juveniles. Fish juveniles with an average length and weight of 2.62 ± 0.13 cm and 0.26 ± 0.07 g/fish, respectively, were randomly distributed into 70L tanks at a density of 2 fish/L. Four salinity levels of 5‰, 15‰, 25‰, and 33‰ were tested, with each treatment replicated three times for 28 days. The results showed that salinity significantly affected the growth, survival rate, and feed utilization efficiency of giant trevally (p < 0.05). At 33‰ salinity, fish achieved the highest growth and biomass, significantly outperforming those at 5‰ by 29.0% and 63.3%, respectively. Survival rate and deformity rate of fish at 15 - 33‰ were significantly better than those at 5‰, with improvements ranging from 7.1 – 9.2% and 31.7 – 51.7%, respectively. Similarly, the feed utilization efficiency of fish reared at salinities of 15 - 33‰ was superior to those at 5‰, with improvements of 20.0 – 24.6% in FCR and 15.7 – 21.3% in PER. These findings provide useful information on the effects of salinity on the production efficiency of giant trevally juveniles, contributing to the optimization of the seed production process for this species.
Keywords: Caranx ignobilis, salinity, growth, survival rate, feed utilization