Response of males to semi-artificial spawning with or without the use of hormonal stimulants and its effect on concentrations of blood steroid hormones, fecundity indicators, and productive efficiency of African catfish <i>Clarias gariepinus</i> broo

Up to now, far too little attention has been paid to evaluating the effectiveness of the hormonal induction and its dose of male African catfish Clarias gariepinus when they spawn in semi-artificial conditions. So the present study was conducted to investigate the feasibility of the hormonal injection of Clarias gariepinus males or not and its effect on reproductive physiology, fecundity, and fry production. Four experimental treatments were attempted in duplicate and designed as follows: Control: (T0) not injecting the male and the female; T1: male and female injections at the same dose; T2: injecting the male with half the dose of the female; T3: not injecting the male and only injecting the female. Brood stocks were randomly placed in spawning tanks at a rate of 10 brood stock/tank (1.53 m³) with a sex ratio of 1:1. 24 hours after injecting the brood stock with a standard dose of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG: 1500 IU), blood sampling and some morphometric parameters (weight of brood stock, weight of gonads, and eggs diameter) were taken to investigate the physiological changes and calculate the gonadsomatic index. Results showed that hormonal induction is an indispensable tool for spawning females of African catfish and producing larvae of high quality. Furthermore, treated groups with hCG did not significantly differ in most indicators of blood sex hormone, morphometric, and fecundity parameters, but T3 recorded the lowest cost of 1000 fry/kg brood stock. Our study provides crucial information for maximizing the economic use of hormonal stimulation in catfish breeding.