) are an endangered anadromous species listed on the IUCN Red List. The species was characterized as a national level key protected animal of China in 1988 and fell under the protection of CITES Appendix II in 1998. Because of their perilous status, there is considerable interest in artificial breeding and species conservation. To aid development of conservation breeding programs, we evaluated the effects of cultured at three stocking densities (low: 1 g/L, medium: 4 g/L, high: 8 g/L) for 40 d to evaluate the influence of stocking density on on growth and feeding. The body weight, growth efficiency, specific growth rate, and daily weight gain decreased significantly increased. The feeding rate for the experimental groups also decreased as the stocking density increased and the feed conversion ratio increased as the stocking density increased. Density also had a significant effect on behavior because of chronic crowding stress. The breathing frequency, tail wagging frequency, and swimming distance increased with an increase in stocking density.