Subterranean Fishes of the World

4289

2019

AIM 2019

41

Due to the advent of gene-editing, transgenesis, and genomics, as well as the increased use of these techniques on Astyanax mexicanus, there is a greater emphasis on increasing efficiencies in the animal husbandry of this species in order to accelerate development to sexual maturity. Through examining the different aspects of husbandry, we can begin to standardize practices while maximizing efficiencies and, potentially, increasing reproducibility. One of the most crucial and time consuming aspects of husbandry with A. mexicanus is larval care; balancing the requirements of providing enough high-quality food to facility growth without overfeeding or creating water quality issues. The goal of this project is to determine if we can adapt the zebrafish (Danio rerio) “Rotifer Polyculture Method” (Lawrence et al. 2016) to increase growth rates and survival rates in A. mexicanus. We have begun this by separating 5 dpf (days post fertilization) fish into two groups of 50 fish each; one group is reared using the traditional method of feeding brine shrimp (Artemia sp.) nauplii once daily, while the other is placed in a tank with 5 ppt water, RGComplete TM, and saltwater rotifers (Brachionus plicatilis). At this time, 25 fish are randomly selected from each group to be photographed and standard lengths are taken in an effort to gather an average baseline of the length of each group. Our preliminary results show that rearing larvae through the rotifer polyculture method results in significantly larger fry. Our future work will define the survival rates, growth rates, time taken to reach reproductive maturity, and behavioral differences between the populations.

1

Astyanax Interrnational Meeting