Biological Characteristics of Jade Perch (Scortum Barcoo)

Abstract

Jade perch (Scortum barcoo), also known as Barcoo grunter, is a fish species belonging to thegenus Scortum, the family Terapontidae and the order Perciformes. It originates from the Barcoo River of the Lake Eyre basin in central Australia and was introduced in China in 2001 [1]. The flesh of jade perch is firm and slightly flaky, sweet and succulent, without intermuscular bones, and isrich in nutrients, especially, highly unsaturated fatty acids. A study conducted by the Australian Common wealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) in 1998 indicated that among 200 sea food species tested, jade perch contained the highest level of omega-3, which was approximately 3-fold that in Atlantic salmon and silver bass. Jade perch grow extremely fast andare highly suited for aquaculture in areas with a moderate subtropical to tropical climate. Under artificial aquaculture conditions, they can grow to food size in 6-10 months on a formulated diet. Recently, there is an increasing interest for species diversification to support the development of sustainable aquaculture. Fast-growing jade perch, which can be stocked at high densities in recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) and feeds on grow-out diets with very low levels offishmeal and fish oil, is a promising candidate for aquaculture [2,3]. Currently, this species is being farmed in both intensive ponds and recirlulating systems not only in Australian, but also in China, Malaysia, even in Belgium [4-6].Since the introduction of jade perch in China, domestic researchers have conducted several studies on the breeding and nutrition of this species. Chen et al. [1,7] studied the artificial