A comparison of three techniques for fluorochrome marking of juvenile <i>Clarias gariepinus</i> otoliths

Abstract

Intramuscular injection of the antibiotic oxytetracycline (OTC) has been the only method previously employed for chemically marking C. gariepinus otoliths for ageing studies. This study compared intramuscular injection, immersion, and dietary  incorporation methods of administering OTC to determine the most effective technique. No differences in either growth or mortality were found between experimental groups while intramuscular injection of OTC was found to be superior to either mass immersion or dietary inclusion of OTC when marking Clarias gariepinus otoliths.

Key words: African sharptooth catfish, oxytetracycline, fluorochrome marking.