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Nikipelov V.I., Nikipelova A.K., Bardukov N.V., Belous A.A., Sermyagin A.A., Kharzinova V.R., Otradnov P.I., Glebov A.P., Gusev I.V., Zinovieva N.A. Dynamics of growth and development of aquaculture sterlet (Acipenser ruthenus, Linnaeus, 1758) bred in a closed water supply system. Sel'skokhozyaistvennaya Biologiya [Agricultural Biology], 2025, Vol. 60, № 6, p. 1055-1070.
(how to cite this article)

doi: 10.15389/agrobiology.2025.6.1055eng

UDC: 639.2/.3

Acknowledgements:
Supported by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation (Federal Scientific and Technical Program for the Development of Genetic Technologies for 2019-2030, Agreement No. 075-15-2025-469).

 

DYNAMICS OF GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF AQUACULTURE STERLET (Acipenser ruthenus, Linnaeus, 1758) BRED IN A CLOSED WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM

V.I. Nikipelov✉, A.K. Nikipelova, N.V. Bardukov, A.A. Belous, A.A. Sermyagin, V.R. Kharzinova, P.I. Otradnov, A.P. Glebov, I.V. Gusev, N.A. Zinovieva

Ernst Federal Research Center for Animal Husbandry, 60, pos. Dubrovitsy, Podolsk District, Moscow Province, 142132 Russia, e-mail vladnikipelovvij@mail.ru (✉ corresponding author) nikipelova_aminavij@mail.ru,
bardukv-nikolajj@mail.ru, belousa663@gmail.com, alex_sermyagin85@mail.ru,
veronika0784@mail.ru, deriteronard@gmail.com, glebov74@rambler.ru,
igorgusev@mail.ru, n_zinovieva@mail.ru 

ORCID:
Nikipelov V.I. orcid.org/0009-0008-6411-2454
Kharzinova V.R. orcid.org/0000-0003-3418-2511
Nikipelova A.K. orcid.org/0009-0002-8248-7555
Otradnov P.I. orcid.org/0000-0002-1153-5815
Bardukov N.V. orcid.org/0000-0002-5497-2409
Glebov A.P. orcid.org/0000-0002-1570-3839
Belous A.A. orcid.org/0000-0001-7533-4281
Gusev I.V. orcid.org/0000-0002-5843-2688
Sermyagin A.A. orcid.org/0009-0005-2386-1289
Zinovieva N.A. orcid.org/0000-0003-4017-6863

Final revision received June 24, 2025
Accepted August 04, 2025

Sterlet (Acipenser ruthenus, Linnaeus, 1758), characterized by early sexual maturity and high survival rates under intensive farming conditions, is one of the main species in commercial sturgeon farming. Determining correlations between live weight and morphological traits is crucial in the selection and genetics of commercial aquaculture species, as this allows us to assess the close relationship between quantitative traits at the phenotype level (observable characteristics) and understand how changes in one trait can influence others. In this study, we first focused on the allometric growth characteristics of sterlet from the Volga population during our investigation of the growth and development dynamics of sturgeon reared in a recirculating aquaculture system. The aim of the work was to study the dynamics of growth and development of the Volga sterlet (Acipenser ruthenus, Linnaeus, 1758) population grown in aquaculture in order to improve selection and breeding programs in the age aspect and to develop an equation for allometric growth. The studies were conducted at the Ernst Federal Research Center for Animal Husbandry on the Volga sterlet population of the April 2022 generation (n = 62) bred in a recirculating aquaculture system (RAS). The fish were kept in a tank with an area of 3.14 m2 at an ichthyomass of 20-25 kg/m2. Live weight (W, g) and eleven morphological parameters were determined: L — absolute length (cm); l — commercial length (cm), L2 — fish length to the end of the middle rays of the caudal fin (cm); HL — head length (cm); PV — pectoventral distance (cm); VA — ventroanal distance (cm); pl1 — caudal peduncle length (cm); H — greatest body depth (cm), h — caudal peduncle height (cm); GC — body girth (cm), Сс — caudal peduncle girth (cm). The parameters were recorded at five ages: at the beginning of the experiment at the age of 1 year 5 months (Bn) and at four age periods with an interval of 5-7 months between measurements: at the age of 1 year 7 months (B1), 2 years 2 months (B2), 2 years 7 months (B3) and 3 years 2 months (B4). To characterize the intensity of growth and development, the specific growth rate (SGR) for the period and the specific length gain (SLR) for the period were determined. To characterize the fish's exterior, the Fulton condition index (KF) and the elongation index (Q) were calculated. With increasing age, a significant (p < 0.01) decrease was observed in both the specific growth rate from 0.370 to 0.042 g%/day and the specific body length gain (from 1.05 to 0.10 mm%/day), which apparently reflects changes in the physiological processes in the fish body associated with the transition to sexual maturity. A relatively large variability in live weight (Cv = 19.7-30.4 %) was demonstrated compared to morphometric parameters (Cv = 5.7-14.9 %). The results of the analysis of variance showed a high degree of individual variability (R2f = 0.223; min-max = 0.048-0.537), which indicates the possibility of conducting selection work on these traits. Morphometric parameters were in moderate and high correlation dependence with the live weight of fish (r = 0.49-0.93). Equations have been developed that allow for high-precision (determination coefficient R2 = 0.877-0.941) determination of fish weight based on morphometric parameters. The most preferable predictors turned out to be H (R2 = 0.941), h (R2 = 0.916) and L2 (R2 = 0.903). They should be considered as the most promising in the development of methods for contactless determination of sterlet live weight based on machine vision and machine learning algorithms. The data obtained can be used to develop and improve breeding programs for sterlet reared in recirculating aquaculture systems.

Keywords: sterlet, live weight, morphometric parameters, allometric growth, correlation.

 

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