First occurrence of skeletal anomalies in common snook juveniles

Abstract

The common snook, Centropomus undecimalis, is a species with great interest for the culture for high commercial value. In the summer of 2009, the reproduction of the common snook was accomplished by a private laboratory in Santa Catarina. After the larviculture phase, fishes with malformations of the skeleton were identified. The rate of fish with malformations was of 17.9%. This is the first occurrence of skeletal anomalies in common snook juveniles in captivity. The most probable causes of skeletal anomalies seem to be the existence of unfavorable abiotic conditions (salinity, temperature), nutritional deficiencies, genetics, and inadequate rearing conditions. In fish culture, losses due to malformations also impact on-growing farms, where malformed market size fish have to be discarded or sold at lower values than the market prices.