By the end of the sixties Clarias gariepinus (Burchell 1822) was recognized as one of the most suitable species for aquaculture in Africa. The suitability of this species for pond culture is based on the following biological criteria (Hogendoorn, 1979):
it matures and is relatively easy to reproduce in captivity;
it can grow fast and efficiently;
it supports high population densities;
it is hardy; and
it can tolerate adverse water quality conditions.
Because of these attributes, C. gariepinus has been introduced for culture even out of Africa. The first batch of magur fingerlings were brought to Bangladesh from Thailand in 1989 and were distributed to several government institutes and farms. Due to good care, they became sexually mature in 6 to 8 months and were artificially reproduced by Mollah of Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU) and Bhuiyan of Comilla Fish Seed Multiplication Farm (FSMF). In the summer of 1990, this project was requested by the Government to develop suitable pond culture for the production of table size magur.
The present manual is based on the results of various culture trails conducted at different government and private farm ponds in 1990–91. The manual is intended to provide the basic knowledge required to culture C. gariepinus successfully in undrainable ponds of Bangladesh.
