White Crappie Tank Culture and Out‐of‐Season Spawning

Abstract

While extensive crappie culture has been practiced for decades, limited knowledge of crappie aquaculture methods has hampered the production potential of White Crappie Pomoxis annularis to a small time frame during the natural spawning season, which occurs only once annually. Out‐of‐season spawning of White Crappie could greatly enhance annual production potential. Therefore, White Crappie out‐of‐season spawning experiments were conducted from November to February in recirculating tank systems. After 2 weeks of simulated winter (10°C, 8 h light), photoperiod and temperature were increased to spring (22°C, 16 h light) conditions over 3 weeks (1°C and 30 min increase every 2 d) and 6 weeks (1°C and 30 min increase every 4 d). Fish were injected with gonadotropin‐releasing hormone analog (GnRHa; 100% priming dose and 100% resolving dose, 24 and 48 h later) and strip‐spawned upon ovulation. The 3‐week treatment (11 females : 10 males) induced 1 female to spawn with 11% fertilization rate. The 6‐week treatment (12 females : 10 males) induced 2 females to spawn with fertilization rates of 31.5% and 79.2%. Gonads of unspawned females were sampled at 96 h after the resolving dose to assess reproductive maturity. Gonadosomatic index (GSI) and egg diameter (ED) from unspawned females (3‐week GSI [mean ± SE] = 0.02 ± 0.01, ED = 0.71 ± 0.22; 6‐week GSI = 0.03 ± 0.02, ED = 0.72 ± 0.10) were compared with wild females sampled during December (winter; GSI = 0.02 ± 0.01; ED = 0.53 ± 0.07) and April (spring; GSI = 0.04 ± 0.01; ED = 0.90 ± 0.12). No difference between 6‐week GSI and spring GSI was detected; however, ED was smaller for 3‐ and 6‐week treatments when compared with spring ED. Therefore, out‐of‐season spawning of White Crappies, using recirculating tank systems and hormone‐induced spawning, is possible, but a longer seasonal shift regime is needed to enhance spawning success.

Evaluation of Commercial‐scale Approaches for Cryopreservation of White Crappie, Pomoxis annularis, Sperm

“…Approximately 750 eggs were pipetted (0.25 mL) into each of three replicate petri dishes per treatment for a total of 96 petri dishes (four treatments × three replicates × eight females). For all females, egg fertility was verified using separate aliquots of eggs combined with fresh sperm collected from male white crappie following Culpepper () and Culpepper and Allen (). Fresh sperm was also tested for fertilization using the same osmotic activation solutions of water or salt/urea with eggs from nine females with three petri dish replicates per treatment, per female.…”

White Crappie ( Pomoxis annularis ) latency period following hormone administration is predictable and independent of diel injection time

“…A total of 60 White Crappie (23 females and 37 males) were transported to the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks North Mississippi Fish Hatchery (NMFH), Enid, MS. At the hatchery, fish were sorted by sex using visual cues including color, size and urogenital opening characteristics (i.e., female urogenital opening generally larger than the anus while male openings are similar in size) (Culpepper & Allen, 2016a) and placed in four sections of a large recirculating aquaculture system (RAS). The RAS consisted of two rectangular tanks (630 × 89 × 61 cm, 3420 L) separated into four sections each using prefabricated metal dividers.…”

“…The RAS consisted of two rectangular tanks (630 × 89 × 61 cm, 3420 L) separated into four sections each using prefabricated metal dividers. Salinity was maintained at 3 ppt using artificial marine salt (Instant Ocean Sea Salt, Instant Ocean), and temperature was maintained at 15°C to prevent disease and reduce mortality following the tank acclimation protocol described by Culpepper and Allen (2016a). Temperature was monitored and maintained using a temperature controller (Single Stage Controller, Aqua Logic Inc.) and a water chiller (1/2 HP, Cyclone Water Chiller).…”

“…GnRHa (Ovaprim; Syndel, Ferndale) was injected via a priming dose (0.05 mL/kg at 20 µg/mL GnRHa +10 mg/mL domperidone; 10% of the manufacturer's recommended dose) followed by a resolving dose (0.45 ml/kg; 90% of the manufacturer's recommended dose) 24 h later. All injections were administered in the same manner for both females and males and were given intramuscularly, approximately 2 cm below the dorsal fin using a 25 gauge, 2.5‐cm hypodermic needle, following Culpepper and Allen, (2016a). After the priming dose, fish were randomly placed into raceway sections.…”

Tank Acclimation and Induced Spawning of the Catostomid, Black Buffalo

“…() noted a high ovulation rate when GnRHa was used to induce spawning in Robust Redhorse Moxostoma robustum , and the effective use of GnRHa in other fish species (Hill et al. ; Culpepper and Allen ; Chatakondi ) suggests it could be useful in many catostomid species as well, although the ability to induce spawning using GnRHa in other catostomid species is unknown.…”