A female sawfish will leave the Océanopolis aquarium in Brest to join a male established in Montpellier. For this unique reproduction program for this species in danger of extinction, transport will be by road.
This attempt to breed sawfish in an aquarium represents a completely new experience. It is far from anecdotal because these fish are on the list of critically endangered species, and there are only four specimens in captivity in Europe.
If you don’t have the image of the sawfish in mind, just imagine an enormous ray, a flat fish, three to six meters long with a rostrum, therefore a flattened and serrated nose on the side, in saw shape. In captivity, these fish are only visible in three aquariums in Europe. There is a specimen at Océanopolis in Brest, two others in Montpellier and one in Valencia in Spain.
Transportation by road
These animals being protected, it is forbidden to take them from the tropical seas where they live, but scientists wish to try a reproduction program in order to conserve the species, and to be able to study it. To do this, the female sawfish, currently based at Océanopolis in Brest, will be transported in October to the Montpellier aquarium to share the pool of a male. Transportation will be by road. The sawfish must in fact be loaded on board a semi-trailer, equipped with a six-meter-long basin containing 20,000 liters of sea water.
It was not possible to carry out an insemination rather than transport this fish because insemination techniques require regularly handling the animals, taking blood samples, monitoring their hormones, and the female’s ovarian cycle. However, these fish, several meters long and equipped with a sharp proboscis, are dangerous for keepers and divers. Insemination was not possible, according to Dominique Barthélemy, curator in charge of the living environment at Océanopolis in Brest.
A similar experience in Valencia
The scientists therefore decided to attempt natural mating. Madam traveling to Monsieur, in Montpellier, because the latter has a larger pool and more suited to life as a couple. At the same time, the second male currently present in Montpellier will leave for the Valencia aquarium in Spain, to meet another lady there.
The gestation period lasts five months, there can be between 1 to 10 fish per litter, but for the rest this experience involves many unknowns. There is no precedent for sawfish breeding in aquariums anywhere in the world. A birth in Montpellier or Valence would therefore be a great scientific first.