Growth, survival, and behavioral interactions of tilapia, crayfish, and freshwater prawns

The red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) at 60 to 70 mm length and tilapia (Tilapia mossambica) 50 to 70 mm length were cultured in aquaria separately and in combinations to determine growth. Both were fed a standard, Results indicated that survival, and behaviors of the organisms, pelleted ration at 3% of their body weight, growth of neither organism was adversely affected when the two species were cultured together. Mean weight increases between treatments for fish were not significantly different. Survival {%) differences between crayfish treatments were not significant either. Additionally, crayfish and tilapia were grown with the freshwater prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) at different stocking ratios to observe behavioral patterns of organisms in inter- and intra-specific contexts. Interactions were predominately intraspecific, and survival (%) of the crustaceans appeared to increase when densities were lower. Reproductive behavior of all species was observed periodically throughout the study. Predation of tilapia on crustaceans was not observed at any time; all mortalities of prawn and crayfish were attributed to the cannibalistic behavior of these organisms subsequent to molting.