Ornamental fish aquaculture to help Lakshadweep women

Ornamental fish aquaculture to help Lakshadweep women

• Ornamental fish aquaculture is being started in Lakshadweep. As many as 82 islanders, 77 of them women, were selected and underwent intensive training under the program
• They have formed groups for ornamental fish aquaculture with technical support from the ICAR-National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources (NBFGR).

Ornamental fish aquaculture:

• The culture of ornamental fishes is called aquaculture. Ornamental fish culture is the culture of attractive, colourful fishes of various characteristics, which are reared in a confined aquatic system. Farmers and hobbyists mainly grow it. 
• Ornamental fishes are also known as living jewels. There are more than 30,000 fish species reported around the world, of this about 800 belong to ornamental fishes.
• Most of the ornamental fishes survive in freshwater. They come under eight closely related families namely, Anabantidae, Callichthyidae, Characidae, Cichlidae, Cobitidae, Cyprinodontidae, Cyprinidae and Poeciliidae.
• Aquarium fishes are mainly categorized into two groups namely, egg layers (oviparous) and livebearers (ovo-viviparous). The majority of aquarium species are egg layers and normally external fertilization occurs. Based on this, it is again categorized into the following types.
  • egg scatter laying non-adhesive eggs
  • egg scatter laying adhesive eggs
  • egg buriers
  • mouth incubators
  • nest-builders and
  • egg-carriers