Upaya Pemijahan Ikan Belut Sawah (Monopterus albus)

Abstract

Ricefield eel in Indonesia has not been able to satisfy the demand because they still depends on the seeds from the wild, so it is not sustainable. This problem happens because information about reproduction and sexuality are still unclear. In addition, eels are also identified as hermaphrodite. Therefore, researches about spawning effort of ricefield eels are needed. This study aimed to explore how to breed the ricefield eel (Monopterus albus). This study’s activities consist of male and female determination, identification of gonad maturity, naturally spawning effort, and spawning effort with hormonal stimulation. The data in this study are discussed descriptively. The treatments are dissecting 60 eel samples with 4 different size ranges microscopically (acetocarmine method) and macroscopically to determine sex and gonad maturity. Natural spawning efforts made on artificial pond with a different sex ratio for 2 months. Injuced spawning was done by ovaprim injection intramuscularly to the female broodstocks using doses of 0.5 mL/kg and 0.7 mL/kg broodstocks with 2 replications. The results showed that female individuals have a total length of less than 40 cm, while the male individuals have a total length more than 50 cm. Eels with a total length between 40.5 to 50 cm are intersex as the phase transition from female to male. Females or males mature and ready for spawning can not be characterized morphologically. Natural spawning has been successfully done with the male and female ratio of 1:4 at density of 3 individual/m2. Artificial spawning using hormone injection at doses of 0.5 mL/kg and 0.7 mL/kg broodstocks failed to stimulate ovulation.