Abstract: Characteristics of growth and changes in blood parameters were comparatively investigated in female and male farmed 100 day old(summer) and 218 day old(winter) catfish Silurus asotus collected from the same batch in summer and winter to understand the differences in growth, blood physiological indices and biochemical components between female and male catfish. The results showed that there were significant(P<0.05) or very significant(P<0.01) differences in body length and body weight between female and male catfish in the same season, with much longer body length and more body weight in the female than in the male in the same season, indicating that the female catfish are within the fish with dominant growth. In the same season, however, there was little difference in blood physiology and biochemistry between female and male. In summer, the male catfish had significantly higher hemoglobin concentration and more red blood cells than the female did(P<0.05), without significant difference in other indicators between female and male in summer and winter. The Two-way ANOVA of seasonal and gender factors revealed that significant(P<0.05) or very significant(P<0.01) effects of only gender on the count of red blood cells and hemoglobin content were observed, and that significant(P<0.05) or very significant(P<0.01) differences in erythrocyte pressure, and contents of hemoglobin, white cell count, triglyceride, and glucose, and activities of glutamic pyruvidase, glutamic transaminase, and lactate dehydrogenase were influenced by the season, without significant interaction effect of time and gender, indicating that the effect of the season on blood physiological and biochemical indicators was found to be greater than that of the gender.
2019, Vol. 34 
