Effect of the initial stocking body weight on growth of spotted rose snapper Lutjanus guttatus (Steindachner, 1869) in marine floating cages

Spotted rose snapper were stocked at body weight sizes of 24.5 ± 3.7 g, 55.4 ± 3.5 g, and 110.2 ± 4.6 g in three replicated marine floating cages of 100 m³ and reared for 153 days at Santa Cruz de Miramar in Nayarit, Mexico, to determine the appropriate stocking body weight size. Caged snapper were fed twice a day with commercial pellets containing 35% crude protein during the first three months and 25% during the last two months, respectively. The water temperature of cages ranged from 25.6 to 32.3°C. Mean survival ranged from 67.5 to 74.7%. Stocking body weight sizes of snapper exerted significantly different (P≤0.05) effects on the final biomass. The maximum mean weekly weight gain was 12.8 g week^-1 in cages with the 110.2 ± 4.6 g body weight size. These results suggest, as a good strategy, the introduction of snappers with a total weight of 110 g for grow out in marine cages culture.