Effect of Methyl Testosterone (17α-MT) on the phenotype, bioindices and gonads of adult male dwarf Gourami (Colisa lalia)

The effect of different concentrations of synthetic androgen 17α- methyl-testosterone (MT) on the adult fish, Colisa lalia was studied in the present investigation. It was found that fishes fed with homogenous mixture of the hormone in ethyl alcohol, exhibited phenotypically, morphometric, gonadal changes and differences in GSI value. Significant differences for length, weight, body color and GSI values were observed between hormones treated and control groups. Fishes fed with hormonal doses of 10 and 15 mg/Kg feed showed significantly elevated body color compared to 5 mg/Kg feed. Length, weight and GSI values were found significantly higher in 10 mg than 5mg/Kg and control group. The highest mean length and mean weight of fish was recorded as 4.76±0.13 mm and 1.50±0.15g respectively with the hormone treatment of 10mg/Kg of feed. The present study revealed that the synthetic hormone had no significant effect on the gonad development of C. lalia.