Enrichment of Zebrafish Danio rerio (Hamilton, 1822) Diet with Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids Improves Fecundity and Larvae Quality.

The zebrafish is a freshwater fish of the Cyprinidae family, which is frequently used in scientific research. It owes its popularity to its genome, whose structure is comparable to the human genome and, for this reason, this species is often used in human medical research. However, such research requires high-quality material to conduct tests producing repeatable results. This study examines the effect of providing feed enriched with essential fatty acids, especially docosahexaenoic acid, to zebrafish spawners on fertility as well as the survival rate and growth of their offspring. The experiments revealed a significant (p < 0.05) effect of feeding spawners with feed enriched with polyunsaturated fatty acids on all tested parameters: their fertility (30% higher compared to the control group), survival rate, and the posthatching size of larvae, which were larger by 13% and 4%, respectively, compared to the control group.