Effects of Stocking Density on the Fasting Resistance of the African Catfish Heterobranchus longifilis (Valenciennes, 1840) Larvae

After the artificial reproduction of catfish Heterobranchus longifilis, two experiments were conducted with larvae of two days with an average weight of 2.75 ± 0.15 mg. The aim of the first was to evaluate the resistance of larvae at fasting depending on the density whereas the second was to determine the resistance threshold of these larvae. The results of the first experiment showed that the density does not influence the resistance of the larvae (p > 0.05). However, the first mortalities and the highest daily mortalities were recorded respectively at J5 and J9 for three densities. All larvae died at J11 for the density 1 and at J12 for the other densities. Moreover, the results of the second experiment showed that larvae can resist until J9 and stay alive if the fasting is broken.