Sturgeons are the most primitive, endangered groups of vertebrates on the planet and often referred to as ‘living fossils’. Their natural populations are decreasing due to habitat destruction, blockage of spawning migration, pollution and overexploitation for their expensive black caviar and boneless meat. Currently, existing populations have little chance to survive without artificial breeding and sustainable ranching programmes. Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) is regulating international trade of all Acipenseriformes and their products for effective conservation. The aim of this review paper was to describe the main innovative applications in sturgeon aquaculture and conservation, such as genome engineering techniques applied in sturgeon’s reproduction, molecular and ploidy analyses of embryo and larvae, sex determination, genome sequencing, gene expression analysis and genome transplantations. Further research is required to improve cryopreservation techniques, embryo banking and quick identification of disease in sturgeon aquaculture and conservation programme.

The objective of the present research was to study the effect of cold shock (3 °C and 6 °C) on fertilized eggs of the sterlet, Acipenser ruthenus L. Cold shock was applied for various durations (30, 60 and 90 min) and the ploidy levels, survival, and genotypes of the treated embryos/larvae were recorded. Analysis of ploidy levels confirmed the presence of diploid, triploid, and mosaic (1n/2n, 2n/3n, and 1n/2n/3n) genotypes in experimental groups, while it was strictly diploid in control groups. Microsatellite genotyping confirmed both the incidence of polyspermy and retention of the 2nd polar body in experimental groups. However, patterns of inheritance in all diploid offspring in experimental and control groups revealed classical Mendelian disomic inheritance. Interestingly, the observed mosaic sterlets had normal morphology and were alive. However, some larvae had abnormal morphology which may be due to haploid syndrome. In all treatment groups (treatments: 3 °C–30 min; 3 °C–60 min; 3 °C–90 min; 6 °C–60 min), where the percentage of polyploid/mosaic larvae were high, the mortality was also high. Whereas, in the control groups (where there were only diploid (2n) larvae), the mortality was relatively low.

The present study was conducted on some stretches of Kosi River in Supaul, Bihar. It is an important tributary of the Ganga river system and serves as a basis of livelihood and employment for many surrounding fishing communities. Despite of its fisheries and agricultural importance, studies concerning the ichthyofaunal diversity, eco-fishery status and ecology are limited. The present communication deals with ichthyofaunal diversity in this river. The fish fauna of this stretch of Kosi River is comprised of 25 species, which belongs to 8 families. Wanton fishing methods such as fish poisoning, uses of restricted fishing gear and small mesh sized fishing net were also observed.