engleski

Artificial reproduction attempt of Salmo obtusirostris L., 1758 (Osteichthyes, Salmonidae): experiences in captivity.

Soft-muzzled trout is an endemic vulnerable species protected in Croatia. It is well known that in aquaculture history many attempts have been made to culture Soft-muzzled trout. Unfortunately, very few written documents exist on those attempts. It was surprising that no biology on such things as incubation time at the hatchery, hatching time, food or other biological parameters were ever recorded. Soft-muzzled trout is a very interesting endemic fish found naturally in five rivers of the Adriatic Sea, especially the rivers Neretva, Vrljika, Jadro, Krka, and the Morača. Every subspecies is morphologically, and to some extent, ecologically different. Soft-muzzled trout prefers rivers with sand, gravel, and a deeper river with more water and a wide riverbed. It is interesting that Adriatic and brown trout have different spawning times, which probably overlaps every few years. All Softmuzzled trout are threatened by similar factors such as excessive damming, hybridization with Other Salmo species and mostly overfishing. On the Vrljika River a small spawning pond was made and by standard artificial fertilization, eggs were obtained which were incubated for 41 days at 100C. The fish were basically cultured for 5 months and when they were 5 cm long were released into the river Vrljika. Cultured fish provided more knowledge about the incubation phase, hatching, re absorption of the vitelline sac and the initial phases of growth, which can be used to develop optimal management for the fish of this resource. The basic idea was, for conservation purposes, to raise fry in the hatchery and repopulate the river Vrljika, to obtain a self-sustainable population level which will keep the species outside of the endangerment categories. Accidentally, it was discovered that Salmo obtusirostris is a good candidate for aquaculture. We provide here core scientific and useful information on the biology of the species.

endemic soft-muzzled trout, reproduction

nije evidentirano