Technical analysis of tilapia Sarotherodon melanotheron Rüppell, 1852 reared in lagoon pens during the grow-out phase (Layo, Côte d’Ivoire)

This study was carried out to analyze the growth and survival performance of Sarotherodon melanotheron reared in lagoon enclosures. A total of 1,000 individuals with an initial average weight of 148.19 ± 33.37 g and an initial average length of 201.9 ± 20.56 mm were monitored for 5 weeks in a 200 m² enclosure, at a density of 5 ind./m². The fish were fed at 10% of their biomass with koudijs feed containing 35% of crude protein. One hundred (100) fish were sampled at random each week, weighed and measured individually. The physico-chemical parameters of the water were also measured weekly. At the end of the experiment, physico-chemical parameters averaged 29.26 ± 0.19°C, 6.20 ± 0.18 mg/l and 6.97 ± 0.40 respectively for temperature, dissolved oxygen and pH. At zootechnical level, averages of 225 ± 14.43 g, 224.3 ±9.27 mm, 2.19± 5.01 g/d and 94.2 ± 1.12% were observed over the entire trial period, respectively for average weight, average length, ADG and Survival Rate. However, growth performance showed an exponential rate during the first two weeks, before slowing down until the end of the experiment. In short, this study should be repeated in the dry season with single-sex males to gain a better understanding of the factors influencing growth and survival in this species.