KOCHI: Miss Kerala has been successfully bred for the first time in captivity by researchers of the Fisheries College, Panangad.
This is no mermaid but the most beautiful ornamental fish, ‘puntis denisonii’, found exclusively in Kerala waters.
The species was bred at the aquarium set up at the college after it was successfully bred in simulated conditions at Kozhikode.
“This fish, especially the female, is sensitive to its surrounding,’’ said T V Anna Mercy, professor of the college who led the research team. S Sajan and Bony Joseph were the others associated with the research project.
In three-year project supported by the Marine Products Exports Development Authority (MPEDA), Prof Mercy and her team have been working hard to breed this species, something not done before in captivity.
“We have successfully bred the F1 generation.
Scientists in Israel, Singapore, Australia and the US are working towards this goal but nobody has managed it in controlled conditions,’’ she said adding that one of the biggest challenges is identifying the male and female as they look alike.
"Fisheries scientists in Kerala have been receiving queries from foreign research labs on larval feeding habits and methods for distinguishing the female fish for perfecting the captive breeding technique.
The race to breed it first was to ensure that this fish remained the state’s exclusive product. “A fish breeder from Israel had came to me to find out the methods of male and female identification,’’ she said. ‘Miss Kerala’ comes under the critically endangered lot as its stock has been dwindling at a rate of 70 percent. This led the State Government to ban its sale.
Puntis denisonii has a high commercial value in the export market and its production has been fast dwindling due to overexploitation.
“Much of what is caught dies because fishermen don’t know how to hold, handle and transport this species. Since it is a wild catch, it is in great demand in the domestic and international ornamental fish market,’’ Prof Mercy said.
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