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¹ St. Xavier’s College (Autonomous), Aquatic Biodiversity Centre, Palayamkottai, 627 002, Tamil Nadu, India Viewed : 4543 - Downloaded : 5916 Colouration is one of the major factors deciding the market value of the ornamental fish. In captive conditions the fish show fade colouration and fail to get attracted by the buyers. To overcome the problem we have planned an experiment with the cheap pigmenting source namely the marigold petal meal. The results are encouraging so that marigold petal meal could be used as a pigmenting source at a concentration of 15 g / 100 g feed of dry weight. Leaching of pigmenting source is also a problem. Hence, experiment was conducted with marigold petal enriched gelatine based diet. From the present investigation, it is considered that a gelatine based diet enriched with both marigold petal powder and protein ingredients might give a better result of growth and pigmentation. Keywords : pigmentation, carotenoids, marigold petal meal, Xiphophorus helleri