Breeding of an ornamental fish – black skirt tetra (gymnocorymbus ternetzi, boulenger, 1895) and study of its embryonic development

Abstract

The aim of the study was to breed the Black Skirt Tetra under controlled conditions and also to study its embryonic development. The experiment was successfully conducted during the months of July - December, 2023. It was found that the fish bred during the dawn and courtship behaviour lasted for 3 hours, which lead to the release of eggs. The fertilized eggs were slightly adhesive, demersal and spherical in shape. The egg capsule was transparent while the yolk was brownish yellow. The eggs were incubated at a temperature of 24±1.0°C and embryonic development was recorded at every interval and was categorized into seven main stages-zygote, blastula, gastrula, segmentation, pharyngula, pre-hatching and hatching. The eggs finally hatched at 21:00 hours. The results of this study can give a better understanding of the breeding behaviour and the embryonic development of other similar commercially important ornamental fishes as well.