Variation in spawning responses, egg and larvae productions from induced rohu (Labeo rohita) during pre-monsoon and monsoon seasons: Relationship with hormonal changes and oocyte responsiveness during final maturation

Early induced spawning in captive rohu (Labeo rohita) often encounters with reduced spawning performances and devaluation of final product. The present study attempted to gain insight into the problems associated with poor performance of rohu during pre-monsoon spawning. A combination of sGnRHa and domperidone was used to induce final oocyte maturation (FOM) and ovulation in rohu during early (pre-monsoon, PM) and normal (monsoon, MN) spawning. The spawning performance parameters such as, spawning response, production and quality of egg and larvae showed significantly lower values (p <0.05) in PM, when compared with MN spawning. The egg and spawn productions were recorded as 2.6±0.05 and 2.41±0.05 during the MN season, which were reduced by almost 50% in the PM season. Moreover the quality of egg and hatchling was devaluated significantly (p <0.05) and exhibited higher percentage of mortality and abnormality in PM than those recorded in the MN season. The plasma concentration of carp gonadotropin (cGtH), 17β-estradiol (E) and 17α20β-dihydroxy-4-pregnen-3-one (DP) in relation to progress of FOM and ovulation at different seasons exhibited marked variation in hormonal profiles particularly in E and DP of PM fish. Higher initial plasma E (3.8±0.3) and a distinct E peak clearly indicated the lack of transition from vitellogenic to post-vitellogenic stages that prevailed in PM rohu. Delayed DP and cGtH surge during FOM and ovulation resulted in longer latency period in spite of higher water temperature (31.5 °C) that prevailed during the PM period. In-vitro study on oocyte maturational competence (OMC) clearly depicted the lack of maturational competence in ovarian follicles during PM than MN in rohu. However priming the fish with purified carp gonadotropin (PCG) enhanced the acquisition of OMC in PM rohu in such an extent, that no marked seasonal differences (p >0.05) in OMC were remained further, when compared with MN follicles. The PCG mediated acquisition of maturational competence was found to be dependent fully on new mRNA and protein synthesis in PM fish. The present study clearly demonstrated that the oocytes' unresponsiveness to hormonal induction was mainly responsible for reduced spawning performance in PM rohu, which could be ameliorated through PCG priming to achieve better spawning response in rohu during the pre-monsoon period. Thereby, the rohu fry production could be initiated successfully as early as May, allowing public and private hatcheries to produce larger age-0 rohu fingerlings ensuring reliable steady source of stocking materials for grow-out system earlier in the season.