Increasing production of sturgeon larvae by using medicinal plants products
Increasing production of sturgeon larvae and juveniles using
medicinal plant products in controlling fungal infections of fertilized
sturgeon eggs
According to the Public Relations and International Affairs
of the International Sturgeon Research Institute (ISRI), the researchers of
this institute succeeded in increasing the production of sturgeon larvae by
controlling the fungal contamination of sturgeon eggs using medicinal plant
products.
The development of the sturgeon aquaculture industry throughout
the country and the need to rebuild the resources of these valuable fishes in
the Caspian Sea, has made the need for artificial reproduction of suitable
broodstocks and production of sturgeon juveniles inevitable. Although the
sturgeon stocks preparation and extraction of high-quality egg and sperm
fertilization and larvae production is a time and money-consuming process most
fertilized eggs are destroyed during the incubation stage due to fungal
contamination which poses a serious challenge to the final hatch rate of
sturgeon breeding practice.
At present, various chemical compounds are used to
cope with the contamination of aquatic eggs with fungal agents, but due to the
adverse effects of these disinfectants on eggs, juveniles, the environment, and
substances on consumers of farmed fish, the need to replace natural compounds
with chemical compounds that control fungal infections is one of the most
important priorities of aquatic health and disease researchers.
Due to this necessity, valuable studies and research
projects have been done on the use of essential oil and extract of Zataria
multiflora in the control of fungal infections of sturgeon eggs in the
incubation stage by researchers of the Department of Health and Diseases of the
ISRI.
Based on the results of these research projects, proper use
of Zataria multiflora essential oil and extract can limit the growth of fungal
agents on sturgeon eggs and delay the time of appearance of fungal agents on
fertilized eggs of these fishes based on the water temperature for several
days, which allows the embryo to grow inside the fertilized eggs, increasing
the hatching percentage of sturgeon eggs and larval production by at least 30%.
