Channel catfish is a skin fish, omnivorous, native of the United States of America, and it has interested fish farmers and industries of Southern Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil due to its meat quality, growth and management characteristics. Silver catfish is also a skin fish, omnivorous, showing good growth and reproduction, but lacking additional evaluation of its intensive cultivation. The objective of this work was to compare the performance and survival of channel catfish, gray and albine strains of silver catfish. The experiment was carried out at the Chasqueiro aquaculture facilities, in Arroio Grande county - RS - Brazil, through 135 days, from April to August of 2001. One Hundred and twenty channel catfish juveniles (91.8±25.8g), 120 albine silver catfish juveniles (83.7±20.9g) and 120 gray silver catfish juveniles (80.4±12.5g) were distributed in three rectangular earth tanks, measuring 180m², alocated longitudinally in three plots, with a total of 9 divisions of 60m² each, with a stocking density of 0,.6 fish m-2, fed daily with an extruded commercial food (CP 36%), on a 3% biomass basis. Growth, weight gain and survival of the animals were evaluated. The water temperature ranged from 11 to 29ºC, with an average of 18.5ºC. Results indicated a weight gain of 40.4; 74.1 and 109.1g and survivals of 14, 32 and 63%, respectively for channel catfish, albine silver catfish and gray silver catfish. It can be concluded that gray silver catfish showed the best productive performance.
Ictalurus punctatus sp; Rhamdia sp; growth; weight gain; earth tank; temperature
