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Communication

Evaluation of Individual Rearing of a Genetically Improved Giant River Prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii Broodstock as an Alternate Approach to Group Rearing During the Post-Selection Rearing Phase

by
Tanisha Nayak
1,
Debabrata Panda
2,
Namita Naik
2,
Santosh Kumar Udgata
1,
Dharitri Choudhury
1,
Sovan Sahu
2 and
Bindu R. Pillai
2,*
1
College of Fisheries, Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology, Rangeilunda, Berhampur 760007, India
2
ICAR-Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture, Kausalyaganga, Bhubaneshwar 751002, India
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Aquac. J. 2025, 5(3), 16; https://doi.org/10.3390/aquacj5030016
Submission received: 10 July 2025 / Revised: 3 September 2025 / Accepted: 8 September 2025 / Published: 11 September 2025
Versions Notes

Abstract

CIFA-GI Scampi® is a genetically improved, fast-growing strain of giant river prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) developed by ICAR-Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture. Each year, selected broodstock are reared family-wise in nylon hapas for 3–4 months before use as parents for the next generation. However, this group rearing phase (GR) results in loss of quality broodstock due to aggression and cannibalism. This study evaluated individual rearing (IR) as an alternative to group rearing (GR). GR involved rearing of males or females in separate hapas, while IR placed males and females in separate hard plastic mesh boxes in ponds (18 boxes each). Results showed significantly higher average daily weight gain in GR, but IR achieved 100% survival for both sexes, compared to 50% (males) and 77.8% (females) in GR. No significant differences were observed in female maturity or male morphotypes (small male and no claw morphotypes). Given the markedly higher survival in IR, it is a viable alternative for post-selection rearing to minimize loss of valuable broodstock in the selective breeding program.

1. Introduction

The giant river prawn (GRP), Macrobrachium rosenbergii, commonly called ‘scampi’ in India, is a commercially significant species widely cultured in several tropical and subtropical countries. The natural seed availability of this species from Indian rivers and estuaries has significantly reduced due to various anthropogenic activities, such as dam construction, pollution, and destructive fishing, in natural waters [1]. The aquaculture production of scampi in India declined steadily from 2006 to 2012, from 42,800 t in 2005 to 3332 t in 2012 [2]. Production in 2012 was less than 10% of the production in 2005. The decline in production was due to various reasons, including poor growth rate and disease outbreaks [3]. The introduction of Pacific white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei to Southeast Asian countries in mid-2000 also adversely affected the growth of GRP farming. Most of the GRP farmers shifted to L. vannamei due to its high production potential and high demand [3]. However, since then, there has been a steady increase in production, reaching 25,344 t during 2023–2024 [4].
Genetic improvement of the growth of GRP through selective breeding was one strategy to increase production and productivity. Selective breeding has long been used to improve the production characteristics of both plants and farm animals [5,6]. Selective breeding was highly successful in developing genetically improved and fast-growing breeds of several commercially important aquatic species like Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) [5], Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) [7], rohu carp (Labeo rohita) [8], and white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) [9].
Several countries have initiated selective breeding programs for M. rosenbergii to develop a fast-growing breed. In India, ICAR-Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture (ICAR-CIFA) started a family-based selective breeding program to improve the growth rate of the species in 2007 in collaboration with WorldFish, which subsequently continued as an in-house project at ICAR-CIFA [10,11,12]. In 2021, the improved GRP strain was granted trademark registration under the name CIFA-GI Scampi®. Every year, the selected and tagged broodstock of new generations of CIFA-GI Scampi® belonging to different families are reared family-wise in nylon hapas. It was observed that in this type of group rearing, there is a significant decrease in the survival of male prawns, probably due to cannibalism and aggressive interactions; however, no disease incidence was observed. This leads to the loss of good candidate parents, especially male prawns, affecting the selection program’s outcome. Several earlier researchers have reported low survival in male GRP during grow-out culture conditions [13,14,15,16,17,18]. The main causes of higher male mortality in grow-out ponds are reported to be due to predation, intraspecific aggressiveness, and the effect of adverse water quality parameters [1,19]. However, there are no reports on the growth and survival of the GRP broodstock. Therefore, the present study evaluated the potential of individual rearing of the broodstock of CIFA-GI Scampi® as an alternate strategy to group rearing. Growth, survival, and maturation of the broodstock of CIFA-GI Scampi® were studied under individual rearing and group rearing of males and females for 70 days.

2. Materials and Methods

The experiment was carried out at ICAR-CIFA, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India. The broodstock of the 2023 Year Class of CIFA-GI Scampi® was used in the experiment. There was one control (group rearing—GR) and one treatment group (Individual rearing—IR). Both the control and treatment groups had three replications each for both adult male and female broodstock. For individual rearing, plastic mesh boxes (30 cm × 20 cm × 20 cm) were used. Both group rearing and individual rearing were carried out in two 0.10 ha earthen ponds. In each pond, 18 boxes and three hapas were placed. One adult broodstock is stocked in each box. In pond no. 1, nine males and nine females were stocked in each of the 18 boxes, and in pond no. 2, nine males and nine females were stocked in each of the 18 boxes. Group rearing was performed in hapas in the same two grow-out ponds where individual rearing in boxes was carried out. A total of six hapas, each measuring 2 m2 (2 × 1 × 1 m), were used for the experiment. Six prawns of one sex were stocked in each hapa (at 3 per square meter density). In pond no. 1, 3 hapas (1 male and 2 female hapas) were placed, and in pond no. 2, 3 hapas (2 male and 1 female hapa) were placed.
Experimental Setup
Aquacj 05 00016 i001
The prawns were measured for individual length and weight before stocking. The prawns were fed commercial pellet feed (36% crude protein and 4% lipid) once daily, at 5% of body weight per day. Sampling of prawns was undertaken once every 15 days to monitor the growth and health of animals. During sampling, the animals were removed from boxes/hapas and measured individually for body length and weight to measure the growth of prawns. During sampling, the health of prawns was monitored by visual examination of the body. Healthy prawns are active and have a clean outer shell (exoskeleton) without any fouling or brown or black spots. Morphotypes of male prawns and maturity stages of female prawns were also recorded based on visual examination of the individual animals. During sampling, the boxes were cleaned using a brush to remove the accumulated dirt, and hapas were replaced with fresh, clean hapas. The duration of the experiment was 70 days. After completion of the experiment, all the surviving prawns were measured. The individual length and weight of prawns, total biomass, and number of surviving prawns were recorded for each treatment. Morphotypes of male prawns and maturity stages of female prawns were also recorded.
Weight gain is calculated by the formula:
Weight gain (g) = Final weight − Initial weight
The following formula [20] was used to determine the average daily growth/absolute growth rate:
ADG (g/day) = ((Wt − Wi))/t
where Wt is the weight in grams at time t (=final weight), Wi is the initial weight in grams, and “t” is the length of the culture period in days.
Percentage weight gain is calculated by the formula: = (Final weight − Initial weight)/(Initial weight) × 100
Specific growth rate is calculated by the formula:
SGR (%) = (ln(Final weight) − ln(Initial weight)/(Experimental period) × 100
Survival rate is calculated as follows:
Survival rate (%) = (Nos. harvested)/(Nos. stocked) × 100
To monitor the important water quality parameters, water samples were collected from ponds twice a week. The water quality parameters such as dissolved oxygen (Winkler method), total alkalinity (titrimetric method), hardness (titrimetric method), total ammoniacal nitrogen (phenate method), nitrite (spectrophotometric method: diazotization), and nitrate (spectrophotometric method: hydrazine catalyzed reduction followed by diazotization) were measured following the standard protocols [21]. The water pH was measured by a pH meter (Orion Versa Star Pro Thermo Scientific make). Temperature was measured daily using a mercury thermometer.
To test the variation in growth and survival of broodstocks reared in IR and GR, one-way ANOVA followed by Duncan Post hoc tests were performed at the 0.05 level of significance using SPSS (Version 16.0).

3. Results

All the measured water quality parameters were in optimum ranges reported for the species. Water temperature ranged from 24.4 to 30.50 °C. The range of other measured water quality parameters was pH 8.22 to 8.60; dissolved oxygen 5.80 to 6.90 ppm; ammonia nitrogen 0.039 to 0.128 ppm; alkalinity 102 to 108; hardness 97 to 114 ppm; nitrite nitrogen 0.02 to 0.09 ppm; and nitrate nitrogen 0.03 to 0.04 ppm.
The mean initial weight of males and females in GR was 24.39 ± 4.78 g and 25 ± 2.95 g, respectively, while the same for IR was 21.5 ± 3.13 g and 21.39 ± 3.24 g, respectively (Table 1).
Overall, the growth performance of prawns reared in GR was higher than that of IR. In GR, the male prawns showed a significantly better growth performance (p < 0.05) compared to males and females in both the treatment (IR) and control group (GR). The weight gain of males and females under GR was 33.33 ± 2.83 and 21.71 ± 6.90. respectively, compared to males and females, i.e., 22 ± 7.43 and 11.28 ± 4.44, in IR. Similarly, the weight gain percentage of males was higher (134%) in GR than in IR (104%). A similar trend was observed in females also. The average daily weight gain of males and females under GR was 0.48 g and 0.31 g, respectively, compared to males and females (0.31 g and 0.16 g) in IR. The SGR of males in GR (1.17%) was significantly higher (p < 0.05) than the IR males (1.0%). In the case of females, the SGR in GR females (0.89%) was also significantly higher than the IR females (0.60%). 100% survival of males and females was reported in IR, while the same in GR was only 50% and 77.8%, respectively (Table 1).
Maturity stages of females were categorized into three distinct stages, i.e., immature, maturing, and fully mature. At the time of stocking, all females were immature. The maturity stages after 70 days of rearing were recorded and given in Table 2. No significant changes could be observed in the maturity status of females between GR and IR, indicating that IR does not have any adverse impact on the maturation of ovaries.
Morphotypes of males were categorized into three types, i.e., blue claw, orange claw, and small male. Males without any claws or whose claws were broken were treated as ‘No claw’, although no claw is not a morphotype. At the time of stocking, all males were of the small male morphotype. After 70 days of rearing, all three types of morphotypes were recorded (Table 3).
Some of the males were of the no-claw category due to loss or damage of claws. There were differences in BC and OC morphotypes between GR and IR. BC morphotypes were higher in IR (44.44%) compared to GR (30%); on the other hand, OC morphotypes were higher in GR (40%) compared to IR (22.22%).

4. Discussion

The present study evaluated two rearing strategies, i.e., group rearing and individual rearing, for the post-selection rearing phase of candidate parents in the selective breeding program of M. rosenbergii. The existing practice of group rearing of selected candidate parents has resulted in a significant decrease in survival in male parents, affecting the efficiency of the selection program. Therefore, individual rearing of selected broodstock was evaluated as a better alternative to group rearing.
The results revealed significant differences in the growth rate of male and female broodstock between the two groups. The growth rate of male prawns was higher in both individual rearing and group rearing. Earlier researchers have also reported that male M. rosenbergii grow faster than females [11,22,23,24]. The growth rate in females slows down after they attain sexual maturation because the energy from food is diverted for egg production [25]. The growth rate was higher in both males and females in GR compared to IR. The growth rate of M. rosenbergii has been shown to depend on a variety of extrinsic and intrinsic factors. The age, health, and genetic makeup of the animal are considered intrinsic variables, whereas stocking density, water temperature, water quality, and feed quantity are considered external variables [26]. As the major intrinsic factors affecting growth were similar for both groups, the observed difference in prawn growth may not be due to intrinsic factors. Among the extrinsic factors, all major factors except stocking density were similar for both groups. Therefore, the observed difference in growth rate between IR and GR may be due to the differences in stocking density. Several earlier researchers have also reported similar results [27,28,29,30]. In the present study, the male and female broodstocks showed higher final weight and weight gain in GR when stocked at 3 nos./m2, which is a comparatively lower density. In the case of IR, even though the prawns were stocked individually, the stocking density per square meter was much higher (16.67 nos./m2). The space limitation in IR might have negatively affected their growth. Sui et al. [31] compared the communal rearing/group rearing (CRS) versus individual rearing (IRS) of selectively bred M. rosenbergii in China and reported that the mean harvest body weight (HBW) increased by 52.88% in IRS compared to CRS. The mean HBW of male prawns increased by 69.65%, while that of female prawns increased by 39.16%. This difference in results between the present study and that of [31] may be due to the differences in the rearing procedure in the two studies. In the present study, both GR and IR were carried out simultaneously, whereas in the study in China, the individual rearing was carried out after the completion of group rearing. Further, the cages used by researchers in China were larger than the ones used in the current study. The larger area available to prawns, thus, might have improved the growth in IRS.
The survival rate of a cultured population is very important and has a significant impact on the success of the culture. It is all the more important for a selective breeding program, especially for breeders selected as probable parents for the production of a new generation. Lower survival in such cases leads to the loss of good candidate parents and can negatively affect the outcome of a selection program. The survival rate of any cultured population depends on several factors, both intrinsic and extrinsic. Good genetic makeup, good food, and a good environment ensure the good survival of a cultured population. In M. rosenbergii, survival rate during culture has been reported to vary widely, ranging from less than 30% to more than 90% [29,30,32]. The survival rate in male M. rosenbergii has been reported to be lower than that of females. Higher proportions of females than males were found in prawn populations in several studies [13,14,15,16,17,18]. The main causes of higher male mortality in grow-out ponds are reported to be due to predation, intraspecific aggressiveness, and the effect of adverse water quality parameters [1,19]. In a sexually matured M. rosenbergii population, male prawns exhibit a complex social hierarchy [25,26]. Males are more aggressive and agonistic and frequently fight with other males [19,25]. Smith and Sandifer [13] opined that the reason for lower survival rates in males is due to the selective male mortality under crowded pond culture conditions, as prawns are known to be vulnerable to limb damage and cannibalism during molting, even under conditions of excess food. The survival rates of male prawns in GR were lower than those of female prawns. The present study revealed significantly lower survival in GR compared to IR, indicating the possibility of social interaction and predation and/or cannibalism for the lower survival in GR, as suggested in earlier studies [22,27,33]. IR resulted in a 100 percent survival for both male and female prawns, indicating its suitability as an alternate rearing strategy for the rearing broodstock of M. rosenbergii for selective breeding programs. Sui et al. [31] also reported a higher survival of M. rosenbergii broodstock in IRS (65.05%) compared to CRS (46.05%).
In M. rosenbergii, females become mature after 5–6 months of age. The first gonadal maturity is reported to be in a weight range of 18–26 g [34]. The developing ovary is visible under the carapace as an orange mass. The maturity stages of females were categorized into three main groups: stage I (immature, IM), stage II (maturing MA), stage III (fully mature, FM). The small ovary in immature females is restricted to the posterior part of the carapace and exhibits no outward signs of ovarian maturation. The ovaries of females are larger and more brightly colored in maturing females, covering two-thirds of the carapace cavity. The ovary occupies the entire carapace cavity in FM females. Though the number of females in various stages of maturity in IR was slightly higher, there was no significant difference in the maturity status between the treatment and control groups. There are no previous studies in M. rosenbergii that evaluated the difference in maturity status between group rearing and individual rearing. The fact that the maturity status of females did not show any significant variations between GR and IR indicates that IR does not have any negative impact on the maturation process of M. rosenbergii.
Macrobrachium rosenbergii males have a complicated social behavior that includes morphologically distinct dominant, subdominant, and submissive animals [25]. The male broodstock populations can be divided into three distinct morphotypes, namely Blue Claw males (BC), Orange Claw males (OC), and Small Males (SM). The three male morphotypes represent the three developmental stages of the male maturation process and can change from SM to OC and from OC to BC [25,35]. These classes differ in their morphology, physiology, and behavior and transform from SM to OC and then to BC [36]. The BC males are characterized by very long, robust second walking legs that are deep blue and are the largest of the three morphotypes. They are aggressive, territorial, and dominant over the other two morphotypes [37]. The SM are the smallest of the three morphotypes and are slow-growing and subordinate to both BC and OC [37]. The OC male also grows to a large size and has long, second-walking legs and orange claws. Earlier studies on the distribution of male morphotypes during the grow-out culture of M. rosenbergii indicate a negative relation of larger morphotypes (BC and OC) with stocking density, while the SM morphotype showed a positive relationship [16,38,39,40]. Different proportions of morphotypes were also reported in different crosses of three populations of M. rosenbergii [41,42]. BC morphotypes are preferred for breeding purposes, as the mating success is reported to be higher in BC compared to OC or SM [36].
In the present study, though all males were of the SM morphotype at the time of stocking, after 70 days of rearing, all three types of morphotypes were recorded, indicating a normal progression of growth. BC morphotypes were higher in IR (44.44%) compared to GR (30%), while OC morphotypes were higher in GR (40%) compared to IR (22.22%). The higher proportion of BC males in IR might indicate a faster transition from the OC morphotype to BC in IR due to the lack of competition from other males.

5. Conclusions

Overall, the present study showed a significant improvement in survival in both males and females in individual rearing compared to group rearing, indicating the IR as an alternative strategy for the post-selection rearing phase of candidate parents in the selective breeding program of M. rosenbergii. Though the growth rate was lower in IR compared to GR, this might be due to the relatively higher density and smaller living space provided in IR, which can be improved to increase the growth. IR, however, is more labor-intensive and requires additional manpower to manage it.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, B.R.P. and T.N.; methodology, T.N. and D.P.; formal analysis, D.P. and TN.; investigation, T.N., N.N. and S.S.; resources, B.R.P.; data curation, T.N. and D.P.; writing—original draft preparation, T.N.; writing—review and editing, B.R.P., T.N. and D.P.; supervision, B.R.P., S.K.U. and D.C.; project administration, B.R.P.; funding acquisition, B.R.P. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding

This research was funded by the ICAR-Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture, and received no external funding.

Institutional Review Board Statement

The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki, and approved by the Ethics Committee of ICAR-CIFA Animal Ethical Committee (protocol code F.No.ICAR-CIFA/Eth.Comm./2025-26/03 30 July 2025).

Data Availability Statement

The data presented in this study are part of the M.F.Sc. dissertation of the first author and is available on request from the corresponding author.

Acknowledgments

The authors are thankful to the Director, ICAR-Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture, for funding and providing facilities to conduct the experiments.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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Table 1. Growth and survival of male and female broodstock of ‘CIFA-GI Scampi® in the control and treatment groups.
Table 1. Growth and survival of male and female broodstock of ‘CIFA-GI Scampi® in the control and treatment groups.
ParametersGroup Rearing (GR-Control)Individual Rearing (IR-Treatment)
MaleFemaleMaleFemale
Initial weight (g) (Mean ± SD)24.39 ± 4.7825.00 ± 2.9521.50 ± 3.1321.39 ± 3.24
Final weight (g) (Mean ± SD)56.11 ± 2.57146.93 ± 13.4143.50 ± 7.7932.67 ± 5.96
Duration of experiment (d)70707070
Weight gain (g)33.33 ± 2.83 c21.71 ± 6.90 b22 ± 7.43 b11.28 ± 4.44 a
Weight gain %134.42 ± 27.37 c88.55 ± 25.02 b104.51 ± 35.72 b53.39 ± 20.92 a
ADG (g/day)0.48 ± 0.04 c0.31 ± 0.06 b0.31 ± 0.11 b0.16 ± 0.06 a
SGR (%)1.17 ± 0.16 c0.89 ± 0.19 b1.00 ± 0.27 b0.60 ± 0.19 a
Survival (%)50 ± 1.73 a77.8 ± 0.58 b100.00 c100.00 c
Data presented as Mean ± SD. Different superscripts in a row indicate significant difference (p < 0.05).
Table 2. Maturity stages (%) of female broodstock of CIFA-GI Scampi® in control and treatment group.
Table 2. Maturity stages (%) of female broodstock of CIFA-GI Scampi® in control and treatment group.
Maturity StagesGroup Rearing
(GR-Control)		Individual Rearing
(IR-Treatment)
Immature 21.4316.67
Maturing28.5727.78
Fully mature50.0055.55
Table 3. Morphotypes (%) of male broodstock of CIFA-GI Scampi® in control and treatment groups.
Table 3. Morphotypes (%) of male broodstock of CIFA-GI Scampi® in control and treatment groups.
MorphotypesGroup Rearing
(GR-Control)		Individual Rearing
(IR-Treatment)
Blue claw3044.44
Orange claw4022.22
Small male2016.67
No claw1016.67
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Nayak, T.; Panda, D.; Naik, N.; Udgata, S.K.; Choudhury, D.; Sahu, S.; Pillai, B.R. Evaluation of Individual Rearing of a Genetically Improved Giant River Prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii Broodstock as an Alternate Approach to Group Rearing During the Post-Selection Rearing Phase. Aquac. J. 2025, 5, 16. https://doi.org/10.3390/aquacj5030016

AMA Style

Nayak T, Panda D, Naik N, Udgata SK, Choudhury D, Sahu S, Pillai BR. Evaluation of Individual Rearing of a Genetically Improved Giant River Prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii Broodstock as an Alternate Approach to Group Rearing During the Post-Selection Rearing Phase. Aquaculture Journal. 2025; 5(3):16. https://doi.org/10.3390/aquacj5030016

Chicago/Turabian Style

Nayak, Tanisha, Debabrata Panda, Namita Naik, Santosh Kumar Udgata, Dharitri Choudhury, Sovan Sahu, and Bindu R. Pillai. 2025. "Evaluation of Individual Rearing of a Genetically Improved Giant River Prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii Broodstock as an Alternate Approach to Group Rearing During the Post-Selection Rearing Phase" Aquaculture Journal 5, no. 3: 16. https://doi.org/10.3390/aquacj5030016

APA Style

Nayak, T., Panda, D., Naik, N., Udgata, S. K., Choudhury, D., Sahu, S., & Pillai, B. R. (2025). Evaluation of Individual Rearing of a Genetically Improved Giant River Prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii Broodstock as an Alternate Approach to Group Rearing During the Post-Selection Rearing Phase. Aquaculture Journal, 5(3), 16. https://doi.org/10.3390/aquacj5030016

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