Abstract: The object of this study was to investigate the effect of salinity on growth and flesh quality of channel catfish fingerlings. The fish were reared at different salinity (0, 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 ppt) for 60 days, and the growth performance, water binding capacity of muscle and muscle nutrients composition were determined. The results showed that the fish reared at salinity 3 and 5 groups with greater survival rate (96.67% and 94.67%, respectively) and SGR (2.65 %/d and 2.59 %/d, respectively), both of which had significant differences in comparison with other salinity groups (P<0.01). Generally, water binding capacity decreased with the increase of the salinity, but the difference of salinity 3 and salinity 0 groups was not significant (P>0.01). In terms of muscle nutrients, with the increase of salinity, the water content in muscle increased and the ash content decreased, while the contents of crude protein and crude fat were affected by the food intake. The fish reared at salinity 3 group had higher crude protein and crude fat contents. Thus, the results indicated that raise appropriately the aquaculture water salinity of channel catfish fingerlings could significantly improve the survival rate, reduced the occurrence of pests and diseases, and the muscle quality could not be impacted to a certain extent. The most suitable salinity is 3 ppt according to the present results and findings.

Key words: channel catfish, fingerlings, salinity, growth, flesh quality