394
Individuals were monitored weekly, after eugenol analgesia, performing ovarian
biopsy, with part of the oocytes collected and analyzed in stereo-microscope. During
8 months, females presented oocytes smaller than 420 μm. In previous studies with
the dusky grouper, the oocytes need to reach a larger size to fit the procedures of
hormone induction. Until the present moment, the fertilization of oocytes of Goliath
Grouper with cryopreserved semen was no successful.
The successfully semen cryopreservation and the creation of the first sperm bank
opens new doors to the protection of the Goliath Grouper, besides consolidating a
tool to preserve their gene heritage. The final stages of the research to consolidate a
reproduction protocol for the species in captivity is in progress, and the presented
results were achieved in short time indicated that soon this tool for conservation of
the Atlantic Goliath Grouper will be fully available.
Besides the specific steps of the aquaculture protocol, the development and
improvement of methodologies and practices for ideal management of the species
were designed and are still being updated. The pioneer work with Goliath Grouper
in captivity, from the transportation of individuals from Northeast Brazil to the laboratories in Ubatuba (over 2000 km distance, and over 48 h of travel), the maintenance of fish in marine RAS, the determination of sanitary protocols, and the
identification of parasites and pathologies, associated to reports of unknown biological events, such as skeletal deformations (Silva et al. 2014, Sanches et al. 2015),
were successfully overcome challenges. The obtained results are part of the data for
a complete manual of Goliath Grouper management in aquaculture and public
aquariums.
In the last decade, many public aquariums opened in Brazil, and most of them
have large groupers in their tanks. Unfortunately, due to the lack of proper supervision and regulation, higher portion of these fish are not kept in adequate environments, shortening their life span under captivity conditions. Efforts using the
knowledge generated in this research are being used jointed with the practices
demanded by the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums to determine minimum
criteria to be adopted on Goliath Grouper and other large-scale bony fish management in captivity in Brazil, detailing specific animal well-being practices, to reduce
the mortality, improving the life quality and supporting future related policies.
The definition of techniques for successfully captive bred species is a long-term
procedure that involves many researches and experiments. Atlantic Goliath Grouper
aquaculture still involves many challenges and only through the interaction of
research institutions can be overcome, contributing to the larger objective, the species conservation. In this sense, efforts in captive bred are a priority, the availability
of fingerlings and juveniles will facilitate and accelerate the elaboration of aquaculture and captive ideal Goliath Grouper protocols.
M. Hostim-Silva et al.
Individuals were monitored weekly, after eugenol analgesia, performing ovarian
biopsy, with part of the oocytes collected and analyzed in stereo-microscope. During
8 months, females presented oocytes smaller than 420 μm. In previous studies with
the dusky grouper, the oocytes need to reach a larger size to fit the procedures of
hormone induction. Until the present moment, the fertilization of oocytes of Goliath
Grouper with cryopreserved semen was no successful.
The successfully semen cryopreservation and the creation of the first sperm bank
opens new doors to the protection of the Goliath Grouper, besides consolidating a
tool to preserve their gene heritage. The final stages of the research to consolidate a
reproduction protocol for the species in captivity is in progress, and the presented
results were achieved in short time indicated that soon this tool for conservation of
the Atlantic Goliath Grouper will be fully available.
Besides the specific steps of the aquaculture protocol, the development and
improvement of methodologies and practices for ideal management of the species
were designed and are still being updated. The pioneer work with Goliath Grouper
in captivity, from the transportation of individuals from Northeast Brazil to the laboratories in Ubatuba (over 2000 km distance, and over 48 h of travel), the maintenance of fish in marine RAS, the determination of sanitary protocols, and the
identification of parasites and pathologies, associated to reports of unknown biological events, such as skeletal deformations (Silva et al. 2014, Sanches et al. 2015),
were successfully overcome challenges. The obtained results are part of the data for
a complete manual of Goliath Grouper management in aquaculture and public
aquariums.
In the last decade, many public aquariums opened in Brazil, and most of them
have large groupers in their tanks. Unfortunately, due to the lack of proper supervision and regulation, higher portion of these fish are not kept in adequate environments, shortening their life span under captivity conditions. Efforts using the
knowledge generated in this research are being used jointed with the practices
demanded by the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums to determine minimum
criteria to be adopted on Goliath Grouper and other large-scale bony fish management in captivity in Brazil, detailing specific animal well-being practices, to reduce
the mortality, improving the life quality and supporting future related policies.
The definition of techniques for successfully captive bred species is a long-term
procedure that involves many researches and experiments. Atlantic Goliath Grouper
aquaculture still involves many challenges and only through the interaction of
research institutions can be overcome, contributing to the larger objective, the species conservation. In this sense, efforts in captive bred are a priority, the availability
of fingerlings and juveniles will facilitate and accelerate the elaboration of aquaculture and captive ideal Goliath Grouper protocols.
M. Hostim-Silva et al.