Some of our trout eggs (triploid) that we have in the office for the Rivers and Lochs in the Classroom have just begun to hatch. Not having access to alevins all that often this morning I took the opportunity to get a few snaps of some developed eggs and recently emerged alevins.
Hatched in the last few days these small fish are largely immobile.
However we can tell that they are alive as there is an almost imperceptible heart beat
A dead and a healthy egg for comparison. The healthy egg is on the left of the frame. It will be the pupils responsibility to remove the dead eggs helping ensure the success of the healthy eggs.
Understanding that not all the eggs or fish will survive until the release day is a fundamental component of the project. Salmon and trout lay thousands of eggs as the majority will die. If more than two adult fish are produced as a result of a pair of fish then the population will increase and vice versa.
It really is fabulous to be able to see these little fish at this lifestage. We spend so much time sampling populations across Ayrshire but we rarely get the opportunity to watch eggs hatching and alevins emerging.
