Maintenance and Breeding of Zebrafish under Laboratory Conditions for Animal Research

Abstract

Background: Zebrafish is widely used in biomedical research to explore several diseases and abnormalities. A thorough understanding of husbandry is required to maintain effectively, breed and produce healthy and diversified colonies. Diet, age, size, light exposure, mating behaviour, tank temperature and time used for egg formation are all factors that influence the breeding process. Methods: The fishes were kept in the zebrafish housing system with frequent water quality checks and a breeding duration of 7 days. Developing eggs and larvae were photographed and further processed with image view software. The normal development of zebrafish goes through seven stages: zygote, cleavage, blastula, gastrula, segmentation, pharyngula and hatching stage. Result: The average number of eggs deposited per female in the experiment was 341±4.21, with 318±4.81 viable eggs. 298±4.99 eggs hatched after 72 hours and 270±4.34 fingerlings survival was recorded after a week. The present paper discusses the care of zebrafish, setting up and maintenance in laboratory conditions. Once the system is standardized, it is easy to access healthy eggs, larvae and adults throughout the year for research and teaching purposes.