Fish-breeding and biological indicators of the bester «Burtsevskaya» breed of the 5th generation of breeding when growing in industrial aquaculture

The expediency of using hybrids in aquaculture is associated with the possibility of combining the desirable qualities of the original species in them. To date, a large number of interspecific hybrids of sturgeon fish have been studied and tested in industrial aquaculture farms, but 3 breeds bred on the basis of crosses of beluga with sterlet (bester) were the first registered by the State Commission of the Russian Federation of Breeding Achievements in 2000 under the names «Burtsevskaya», «Vnirovskaya» and «Aksaiskaya». The cultivation of reciprocal forms of the Burtsevskaya breed bester (beluga × sterlet; sterlet × beluga) was started in the ponds of the Saratov region, continued in the Rostov region until the 4th generation. The 5th generation was entirely grown in the pools of the RAS near Moscow. The purpose of this study was to compare the producers of the bester «Burtsevskaya» of the 3rd and 5th generations of breeding to determine the stability of the breed. The assessment was carried out by comparing different generations in terms of the value of exterior indicators: indices of progenity, body thickness, body girth, fatness coefficient (KF) and economically valuable traits: female productivity, viability of offspring and the level of embryonic disorders in early ontogenesisThe data on the dynamics of changes in morphometric body indices, survival and fertility from the 3rd to the 5th generation in the sturgeon hybrid are presented. The data of experimental studies conducted in the period 2002–2018 under controlled conditions of closed systems of VNIRO in the Moscow region (Russia), for spawners and offspring of the Burtsevskaya bester breed (Huso huso (Linnaeus) × Acipenser ruthenus (Linnaeus)) are summarized. Methods of intravital eggs extraction, ultrasound diagnostics, biopsy with the probe and anesthesia are applied. It has been established that the 5th generation of the «Burtsevskaya» breed of Bester retains the main differences from the parental forms. Embryonic disorders and their level in the offspring of the 5th generation of the Burtsev Bester are similar to the previous generations, with the exception of the “severe variants” noted for F2. There was a decrease in working fecundity in F5  females, and the values of relative fecundity and oosomatic index, on the contrary, increased, which is associated with directional selection for these indicators. In F5  males, the average weight of mature fish increased relative to F3. 

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