BROODSTOCK CONDITIONING AND LARVAL REARING OF THE YASHA GOBY Stonogobiops yasha  

The Yasha Goby (Stonogobiops yasha) is a vibrant marine goby that is highly demanded in the marine ornamental aquarium trade. The Roger Williams University Marine Lab bred this fish in captivity for the first time in 2016. These commercially available cultured specimens will help meet the demand for this species while reducing the need to collect wild Yasha Gobies. Further, our techniques will serve as a culture model for other Stonogobiops species, as well as other Gobiids.

Wild Yasha Gobies (N=18) were paired (N=9), and maintained within a 600 L recirculating seaweater system comprised of 12, 38 L tanks connected to a 150 L sump. The broodstock were provided with 1" PVC pipes lined with acetate sheets to variety of fresh and frozen seafood eight times per day. Spawning began after approximately 8 months of conditioning. Nest incubation lasted 5 days. On the morning of the 5^th day, each nest was removed from the broodstock tank and relocated to a larval system composed of seven 70 L tanks connected to a 150 L sump. The eggs hatched between 8-10 AM (60-100% hatch rate) and larvae fed exogenously by the end of day 1. First feed was Parvocalanus sp. copepods (5-10/mL). Flexion occurred on day 8-10 at which point we started feeding Pseduodiaptomus sp. copepods (5-10/mL). Settlement began on day 20-25 and metamorphosis was observed as early as day 35. When 75% of each cohort was post-larval, the juveniles were weaned onto a 200 mm pellet diet. Over the course of 4 mouths, this project produced over 1,000 Yasha Gobies from seven breeding pairs, with 50% average survival rate (Fig 1). The fish reached a market size of 3.5-4.0 cm by day 200 and we are currently selling batches to a US-based wholesalers and retailers for distribution into the aquarium trade.