Domestication and breeding of native ornamental fish species in Nepal

Fish diversification is one way expected to support the growing aquaculture production which requires the domestication of new species. Domestication of new species is the adaptation of an animal from wild to new environment and it is a long, difficult and expensive process. The main goal of this study was to domesticate and propagate the native ornamental fish species collected from Begnas Lake to introduce new candidates in ornamental fish of Nepal. Four small size attractive fish species Puntius conchonius, Puntius sophore, Danio devario and Danio rerio were collected from Begnas Lake and irrigation Canal of Begnas Lake from February to September 2020 for domestication in captive condition. The results showed that all collected fish species were domesticated and accepted formulated feed with higher survival (62.4-94.6%). We try to explore the self-bred condition of domesticated ornamental fish species by providing semi-natural environments. Two fish species Danio devario and Danio rerio were successfully self-bred in the semi-natural condition. Further research needed to find out farmer’s friendly breeding technology of ornamental fish species and also domesticate the new more attractive native fish species.