1st Artificial Propagated Chinese Sturgeon Born
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The first total-artificially-propagated Chinese sturgeon fry in the world is seen in this photograph taken at the Chinese Sturgeon Research Institute (CSRI) of the China Three Gorges Corporation in Yichang, central China's Hubei Province, on October 4, 2009. Chinese scientists announced here on October 1 that the artificial propagation of the rare Chinese sturgeon would no longer count on wild fish as they have made successful artificial insemination and spawning of cultured sturgeons. Director Shang Zhenyang of the CSRI of the China Three Gorges Corporation said that the reproductive breakthrough achieved on the night of September 30 marked "a milestone" in the protection of the vertebrate species dating back 140 million years. A total of about 28,000 inseminated eggs were spawned with the help of the CSRI and it is preliminarily estimated that about 15,000 to 20,000 fry will come out in the end. [Xinhua]
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The successful breeding would help protect the rare species from fishery and other natural disturbance, said Guo Baifu, director of the acipenser sinensis breeding project.
The acipenser sinensis research institute had been breeding the first generation for 20 years and the first batch of artificially propagated acipenser sinensis was born after 91 hours of incubation, said Shang Zhenyang, head of the institute.
The experts had bred more than 28,000 eggs and more than 15,000 were expected to be born, Shang said.
Acipenser sinensis, better known as Chinese sturgeon, one of the oldest living things on the earth, had existed for more than 140 million years. The species had been listed as national protected wild creatures.