The nadzhaberny organ gives the fish special vitality — thanks to it, the snakehead breathes atmospheric air and calmly tolerates conditions with a low oxygen content in the water. Its ability to cross dozens and even hundreds of meters across the grass in wet weather in search of a new reservoir is also amazing. The natural habitat of this fish is shallow lakes and channels of the Amur Basin and Lake Khanka.
From the point of view of aquaculture, the snakehead is a very promising species: it quickly gains weight, and its dense white meat is highly valued and considered a delicacy. At the same time, it is not yet grown in Russia, so it is almost impossible to find this fish on the market.
Specialists of the Laboratory of acclimatization and sturgeon breeding of the branch of Freshwater Fisheries of the National Research Center of the Russian Federation "All-Russian Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography" (VNIRO) are actively working to change this situation. Currently, research is underway in two key areas: the selection of a diet based on artificial feeds and the development of methods for obtaining sexual products in captivity. The main difficulty lies in reproducing natural conditions for spawning: in the natural environment, it is triggered by a whole complex of signals, and in industrial conditions this chain is not easy to recreate. Scientists are considering different approaches, from imitation of the natural environment to hormonal stimulation.
The laboratory's experience shows that the unique features of the snakehead are not an insurmountable barrier, but rather a set of non—trivial tasks, the solution of which will open the way to the artificial reproduction of this valuable species.
VNIRO Press Service
