Optimizing the gonadoliberin dosage and evaluating the egg quality in the preseason and seasonal artificial reproduction of pond-reared sterlet Acipenser ruthenus.

Sterlet Acipenser ruthenus is the smallest in size, early maturing, yet third in production scale among the sturgeon species and as such presents a good model to study reproductive biology. The present study aimed to evaluate the effects of preseason artificial reproduction and reduction of hormonal dosage on the egg quality in pond-reared sterlet. Therefore, a series of three trials were conducted in the period 2021 and 2022 (21 and 22) that evaluated three dosages of mammalian gonadotropin releasing hormone analog des-Gly-(d-Ala)-GnRH (40, 20, and 10 µg/kg) in both preseason (January) and seasonal (April) spawning batches (PRE and SEA).