Features of puberty in female African Clary catfish in high-tech industrial aquaculture

Abstract

There is a growing interest in African Clary catfish as a perspective object of industrial fishery in the Russian aquaculture in the last decade. This interest is due to the high growth rate of Clary catfish, its delicious meat and valuable caviar. This species has multiport spawning, so it is possible to get caviar from catfish several times a year. However, in high-tech industrial system of fish breeding, biology of fishes is modified, so that the African Clary catfish loses the ability to reproduce and produce full roe. For reproduction and production of full roe in industrial aquaculture, artificial spawning technologies are used with the use of hormonal drugs that induce the maturation of reproductive cells. The study is devoted to the dynamics of puberty in female African Clary catfish to identify the starting age of its possible use in the reproductive process and in the production of caviar. The results showed that at the age of 8 months, the reproductive system of females reached maturity, females were able to reproduce posterity. However, its reproductive performance in this period, in particular caviar productivity, was very low. The age of 12 months can be considered the starting age for caviar production. Caviar productivity continued to grow, reaching a maximum at the age of 18-24 months, and depended on the weight of females. Working fertility of females and gonadosomatic index at the age of 12-24 months were characterized by increasing dynamics. The size and weight of oocytes during this period reached definitive sizes.