SKUAST researcher successfully breeds Zebrafish

The breeding activity of zebrafish was carried out by manipulating the photoperiod and temperature conditions

Division of Fish Genetics and Biotechnology, Faculty of Fisheries, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST-K) have successfully conducted the breeding of an ornamental freshwater fish commonly known as Zebrafish, (Danio rerio) under cold water conditions. The experiment was conducted by the B.F.Sc. 4th-year student, Saif-ullah under the guidance of scientists of the division Dr Mohd. Ashraf Rather and Dr Irfan Ahmad. The breeding activity of zebrafish was carried out by manipulating the photoperiod and temperature conditions. The eggs were successfully collected and their hatching process was observed. The methodology can be
used for broodstock and seed production of Zebrafish in the valley.

Zebrafish also being a fish of ornamental value can now be reproduced in cold water conditions and offers tremendous scope for young aquapreneurs of Kashmir. Zebrafish also finds wide application in
scientific and biomedical research for its unique developmental and biological characteristics.

Prof (Dr) Massarat Khan, Dean, Faculty of Fisheries, SKUAST-K and Hon’ble Vice-chancellor SKUAST-K, Prof. Nazir Ahmad Ganai have congratulated the whole team and have pinned hope on the decimation of this technology for the local ichtyofauna for conservation and propagation. It is here pertinent to mention that the Faculty of Fisheries SKUAST-K is located at Rangil, Nagabal, Ganderbal is the only Fisheries College in the country with Hill and Coldwater Fisheries, offering BFSc, MFSc and PhD courses in various disciplines of Fisheries.

The breeding activity of zebrafish was carried