Abstract

This study is the first attempt to compare the aquaculture potential on growth, production and economic analysis for growth of spotted babylon juveniles (Babylonia areolata) to marketable sizes using the large-scale operation of flow-through canvas ponds and earthen ponds. This study shows that the average growth rates in body weight were 0.91-1.07 g/month and 0.82 - 0.98 g/month for the canvass pond and earthen pond trials, respectively. At the end of the experiment, final body weights of snails ranged from 5.6 - 6.6 and 5.2 - 6.2 g for the canvas pond and earthen pond trials, respectively. Total yields per production cycle were 1,930 and 1,760 kg for the canvas pond and earthen pond trials, respectively. For economic analysis, investment requirements of the canvas pond trial ($US18,629.6) was higher than that of earthen pond trial ($US8,832.3) and total cost per production cycle were estimated to be $US13,143.3 and 10,162.4 for the canvas pond and earthen pond trials, respectively. Net return per production cycle of the canvas pond ($US5,075.9) was lower than that of earthen pond trial ($US6,452.0) and payback period were estimated to be 1.8 and 0.7 production cycle for the canvas pond and earthen pond trials, respectively. This study indicated that grow out of juvenile B. areolata in earthen ponds was highly profitable than those in flow-through canvas ponds.

Key words: Babylonia areolata, grow out, flow-through system, canvas, earthen ponds, growth, production.