Plea for help

[JohnFM]

If there is anybody in the UK who thinks that they might be able to breed Polypterus senegalus (or another species maybe) "on demand", and who would be willing to supply some embryos for developmental studies, could they please contact me?

I'm also open to suggestions of other lists to post this on....

 

[pica_nuttalli]

whatcha studyin'? (can't help, just curious)

 

[JohnFM]

I need to look at the expression patterns of a family of developmentally-important genes.
They are conserved between fish and mammals, so I need to see if the pattern of expression is as well.

 

[pica_nuttalli]

sounds complicated. i'd ask "why birchirs" but i'm sure that's a secret

have any other fish you could use if the birchirs don't pan?

 

[Fish00]

Very intresting, bichir breeder are highly specialist & IME few & far between.
try your lfs get their supplyer & go to him/her to get some if he/she does than ask if they are willing to give you some.

 

[JohnFM]

I need to use Polypterus since its the most basal ray-finned fish.
I'm also looking in sturgeon, gar, bowfin and some teleosts like zebrafish.

 

[pica_nuttalli]

is what you're wanting to do related to this?

it mentions zebrafish = danios. i know danios are supposed to be easily bred, so you may have better luck pursuing that track.

 

[JohnFM]

similar, but different genes.

Danio is just for comparison, like comparing human and mouse for mammals.

 

[Fruitbat]

JohnFM....

Unfortunately you're going to find that breeding Polypterus species "on demand" is pretty much out of the question. Getting them to breed at all is difficult enough but getting them to breed on your schedule will be impossible. There are a number of 'commercial' breeders in Asia that are churning out lots of Polypterus senegalus, though they're being relatively secretive about the techniques they're using. Chances are they're using chemical means to induce reproduction (which probably wouldn't affect your study of gene expression).

You're going to find the same to be true of most of the other basal ray-finned fish. Their fecundity level is relatively low and due to their relatively large size as adults most of them are rarely bred in captivity.

Sounds like interesting research, however. Which particular family of genes are you looking at?

-Joe

 

[vantgE]

aparently not an active member but

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showto...39469&hl=bichir

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?act=Se...sult_type=posts