Reproductive success and fry production of the paiche or pirarucu, Arapaima gigas (Schinz), in the region of Iquitos, Perú

Abstract

Arapaima gigas (paiche) is the largest scaled fish species living in the Amazon basin. Its biology is both fascinating and misunderstood. In a context of overfishing, hence reduced natural populations, aquaculture of a fish with such interesting characteristics (large size, high growth rate, no intramuscular spines) is an important issue. The development of farming production would also reduce the fishing pressure on natural populations and allow re‐stocking programmes in certain areas. To determine what factors may influence the reproductive success in captivity, data from breeding reports for 2007–2010 were collected among fish farmers in the region of Iquitos. In parallel, we carried out physicochemical measurements in different ponds where these paiches breed, and conducted personal interviews about the general fish management conditions. The results show that reproduction occurs throughout the year but with a higher intensity during the rainy season. It also highlights farms that have performed much better than others, but no single factor except feeding level has been clearly associated with reproductive success. The environmental control of reproduction in paiche, therefore, remains partly mysterious. To deepen this study, we recommend the systematic sexing of breeders, extending reproductive behavioural studies, and examining the limnological factors involved in fry mortality.

Helminthes and protozoan of farmed pirarucu (Arapaima gigas) in eastern Amazon and host-parasite relationship

“…In the giant Amazon basin, pirarucu (Arapaima gigas, Arapaimidae, Osteoglossiformes), is the largest scaled freshwater fish species in world; it can reach three meters of length (Araújo et al, 2009a;Pereira-Filho and Roubach, 2010;Núñez et al, 2011) and weight up to 200kg (Portes- Santos et al, 2008;Araújo et al, 2009a). This fish is a source of income for several riverine communities from Amazonia who live from extractive fishing.…”

“…Hence, natural pirarucu populations have been subjected to excessive fishing for human food and ornamental fish trading. However, this fish very attractive for Amazon aquaculture due to its many advantages (Núñez et al, 2011).…”

The influence of sex ratio on the reproduction of pirarucu, Arapaima gigas, in captivity

“…The other spawning events were concentrated in the rainy season, between April and September 2014 and 2015 (Table 1). The concentration of pirarucu spawning in the rainy season was also observed in a natural environment (Queiroz 2000) and in captivity (Núñez et al 2011). Two pairs in 1M1F ponds spawned more than once in one reproductive cycle, with a 60-day and 65-day interval, respectively, between them (Table 1).…”

“…In captivity, the spawning of pirarucu has been reported in different types and sizes of ponds and river dams, with breeders stocked in pairs or in groups (Núñez et al 2011;Farias et al 2015). Breeders stocked in pairs in a smaller pond resulted in more spawning events than those stocked with more breeders in a larger pond or dam (Farias et al 2015).…”

Nutritional and lipid profiles of the dorsal and ventral muscles of wild pirarucu

“…Arapaima gigas has an obligatory air-breathing system, moving to the water surface to breathe every 5 to 15 minutes (Fontenele, 1948), which makes it easy its identification and capture by fishermen. It is an emblematic species of the Amazonian ichthyofauna that has become very uncommon in the wild due to the overfishing in the last decades (Cavole et al, 2015), except in some natural reserves such as Pacaya-Samiria, in Peru, and Mamiraua, in Brazil (Núñez et al, 2011). Nowadays, A. gigas is in the Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, which means that its trade is controlled as a strategy to preserve the fish stocks (Cites, 2015).…”