Study of Growth and Survival of Four Wild-Caught Mud Crab Species (Scylla spp.) During Nursery and Grow-Out Phases

This study compared the survival and growth of four wild-caught mud crab species (Scylla serrata, S. paramamosain, S. tranquebarica, and S. olivacea) under controlled conditions. The experiment was divided into two stages: Stage I (crablet to juvenile) and Stage II (juvenile to adult). At the end of each stage, the sex ratio, survival rate (SR), body weight (BW), carapace width (CW), weight gain (WG), and average daily gain (ADG) were calculated. The results showed that S. tranquebarica had the highest cumulative survival (67.6%), whereas S. serrata recorded the lowest (38.6%). Growth performance varied among species and between sexes. Male S. serrata demonstrated the highest growth potential with a final CW (11.77 cm), BW (447.1 g), WG (428.61 g), and ADG (3.93 g/day). Conversely, S. olivacea exhibited the lowest overall growth performance in Stage II. Males of S. serrata and S. paramamosain showed superior final growth performance over females. Furthermore, S. tranquebarica showed phase-dependent growth acceleration, transitioning from the lowest growth in Stage I to the second highest in Stage II. Further studies are needed to evaluate S. tranquebarica as a potential alternative or complementary culture species to S. serrata.