Experiments on induced breeding of the grey mullet in Taiwan from 1963 to 1973

Abstract

The grey mullet (Mugil cephalus Linnaeus) is widely distributed in the temperate and tropical zones of the world. It is fairly resistant to low temperature and is an omnivorous fish. In addition, it is euryhalic and can be stocked in both brackish and freshwater ponds. Therefore, the grey inullet is expected to play a very important role in future productivity as a result of efficient utilization of water area.

The grey mullet is one of the commercially important fishes in Taiwan. Every year, 700 000 to 1 000 000 mullets are caught from the coastal waters of the central and south coast of western Taiwan in the season from December through February. Dried mullet roe is a gourmet food of very high price. Mullet fingerlings are collected from the estuarine waters along the west coast during the period from December through March, but there are unpredictable fluctuations in occurrence and abundance of the natural fingerlings. To ensure an adequate source of supply of fingerlings for culture operations, experiments on artificial propagation were gegun at Sanwei, Kaohsiung, in 1963, but were discontinued in the year 1967. From 1968 on, the experiments were carried out in the Tungkang Marine Laboratory. So far the experiments have been carried out for a total of 9 years.

Experimental results, such as initial success of induced spawning in 1963, record of two fingerlings reared to stocking size in 1968, production of 21 688 fingerlings in 1973 when preliminary techniques of mass propagation were established, and unsolved problems, are summarized in this paper.