This month’s, the Journal of the World Aquaculture Society, features a terrific must-read article by Frank Baensch and Clyde Tamaru, entitled Spawning and Development of Larvae and Juveniles of the Rare Blue Mauritius Angelfish, Centropyge debelius (1988), in the Hatchery.
A teaser shot of the Centropyge debelius lifecycle, from larvae to adult. Baensch 2009.
Frank is best [...]
This month’s, the Journal of the World Aquaculture Society, features a terrific must-read article by Frank Baensch and Clyde Tamaru, entitled Spawning and Development of Larvae and Juveniles of the Rare Blue Mauritius Angelfish, Centropyge debelius (1988), in the Hatchery.
A teaser shot of the Centropyge debelius lifecycle, from larvae to adult. Baensch 2009.
Frank is best known in the hobby for his aquaculture venture Reef Culture Technologies, often known by the acronym RCT. This new 15 page study highlights Frank’s success with RCT at breeding the incredibly rare C. debelius in captivity, sharing every detail such as water temperature, feeds, survival, growth and maintenance. Did you know the original parents of the RCT Debelius were originally owned by a Japanese Aquarist for 5 years prior? Frank received the fish in 2005 and the rest is history.
This article is a must read for the marine breeding enthusiast and / or angelfish nut. Check out the abstract for more information:
This study documents the rearing and life history stages of the rare blue Mauritius angelfish, Centropyge debelius, from spawning of eggs through sexual maturity. A C. debelius pair was maintained at our facility for 22 mo. The pair was conditioned to spawn for a 4-mo period in the fall of 2005 and a 4-mo period in the summer of 2006 using water temperature and photoperiod manipulation. Continuous spawning was achieved at water temperatures between 22 and 24 C and a photoperiod of long day (LD) 13.5:10.5. Over a 124-d period, the female produced 97 spawns, 59% of which resulted in fertile eggs. The average fecundity per spawn was 237 eggs (range 13-813 eggs). Fertility of all preserved spawns averaged 19.0 ± 19.8%. Larval rearing attempts using wild caught zooplankton and Artemia nauplii resulted in a total of 10 C. debelius juveniles raised through metamorphosis with an average larval survival up through metamorphosis of 0.36%. Three resulting juveniles were raised through sexual maturity. Sexual dichromatism was first observed about 180 d posthatch. A statistical model: Y = (X× 0.32437) ? (X2× 0.00043) ? 2.004, where Y = total length (mm) and X = number of days in culture, explained 97.6% of the variation in growth (P < 0.001, R2 = 0.976). The development of eggs and larvae was observed to be similar to that of other Centropyge species that have been cultured. Results of this study indicate that the artificial propagation of C. debelius is technically feasible and forms the basis for this report.
I strongly encourage picking up the article–however it will require purchase or a database subscription. Special thanks to the angelfish nut, John Coppolino for bringing the paper to our attention.
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Baensch, Frank, and Clyde S. Tamaru. “Spawning and Development of Larvae and Juveniles of the Rare Blue Mauritius Angelfish, Centropyge debelius (1988), in the Hatchery.” Journal of the World Aquaculture Society 40.4 (2009): 425-39.
