Sterlet eggs first put in Dagestan State University aquacomplex for incubation

Makhachkala, April 15, 2015. Last weekend, they laid sterlet eggs for incubation for the first time in the DSU aquacomplex, the press service of the university told RIA Dagestan.

Graduate and undergraduate students of the fishlore department laid eggs of fish that will litter within 7-10 days. Since the fish in the aqua complexes is bred in vitro, the process took a few stages. At the first stage, eggs were taken from female starlet, and milt was taken from males.

After washing, the resulting material was mixed with a special solution into dough with bird feathers to escape damaging the eggs. Further, the material was placed in an incubator - a special device in the pool, which provides a constant flow of water through the eggs, thus mimicking the natural conditions of open flowing waters. The eggs will remain in the pool until the fry is formed.

For the university, this is the first step on the way to the original purpose of the complex - get young starlet to later use it in research or release it into the Caspian Sea. Thus, DSU will contribute to reproduction of populations of the rare and endangered species of sturgeon in the Caspian Sea.
The DSU aquacomplex was inaugurated in November 2012 with the participation of the Russian Minister of Education and Science Dmitry Livanov. Currently, there are 5 pools of 7 cubic meters of water contained with sturgeon species like beluga, the hybrid of the Russian and Lena sturgeon, and starlet, around 100 fish in total.

The main objective of the complex is to allow the students to get quality education and involve them in research and development activities about the Caspian Sea to revive the fishing industry in Dagestan.