Amu Darya Shovelnose Sturgeons (Pseudoscaphirhynchus) - Nukus Balyk Hatchery Initial Brood Stock Data Base

Nukus Balyk fish hatchery located in the town of Nukus - the capital of Karakalpakstan (a northen province of Uzbekistan with the status of republic).

Nukus Balyk hatchery is the main partner of the Amu Darya shovelnoses conservation project.  It provides the project with several lines of recirculating aquaculture system (RAS). Water in the system is refreshed from the Amu Darya river through Kyzketken Canal.

https://www.google.ru/maps/@42.494134,59.5872585,593m/data=!3m1!1e3?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MTAxNC4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

In 2020 Nukus Balyk was registerged as the Amu Darya shovelnoses hatchery in the Republic of Uzbekistan State Committee for Ecology and Environment Protection (registration certificate # 000010, date: 11.05.2020).

The main goal of Nukus Balyk hatchery is to create a brood stock of Amu Darya shovelnose sturgeons (Pseudoscaphirhynchus) with maximum possible genetic diversity, achive its regular propagation in aquaculture and ultimately reintroduce the shovelnoses propagated in aquaculture to the lower stream of the Amu Darya river where degradation of the wild populations is extremely dramatic.

Video of Amu Darya shovelnose sturgeons - Pseudoscaphirhynchus hermanni and both forms of Pseudoscaphirhynchus kaufmanni (large wide snout (common) form and small narrow snout (dwarf) form in Nukus Balyk fish hatchery recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) filmed on 11 and 12.04.2025:

https://youtu.be/XRxn0Q-7nZY

Video of Nukus Balyk hatchery visit on 10.04.2025 for ultra sound screening of shovelnoses brood stock and implanting individual microchips:

https://youtu.be/-f8_e4Xoxj4

The procedures were conducted by Danil Domrachev (ichthyologist, specialist in fish propagation, practicing fish ultra-sound screening) in online consultations with a number of experienced specialists in ultra-sound screening of sturgeons including Vyacheslav Shebanin, the head of Aleksin sturgeon hatchery (Aleksin, Tula province, Russia) and Elena Galich, PhD, researcher and a prominent specialist in ultra-sound screening of sturgeons (State Regional Centre for Sturgeon Gene Pool Conservation, Krasnodar province, Russia - https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Elena-Galich)

Video of Nukus Balyk hatchery water supply system:

https://youtu.be/xSvSW4HoFV0

Amu Darya Shovelnose Sturgeons (Pseudoscaphirhynchus) - Nukus Balyk Hatchery Initial Brood Stock Data Base

Big Amu Darya Shovelnose Sturgeon  (Pseudoscaphirhynchus kaufmanni)

Large wide snout (common) form

1. iNaturalist 208820118; microchip implant 900263000-401868

2. iNaturalist 251558535; microchip implant 900263000-401867

3. iNaturalist 277909149; microchip implant 900263000-401865

4. iNaturalist 290678182

5. iNaturalist 314021844

6. iNaturalist 314203382

7. iNaturalist 321133017

8. iNaturalist 322497553-440g

9. iNaturalist 322497553-340g

10. iNaturalist 326382737; microchip implant 900263004-531360

Big Amu Darya Shovelnose Sturgeon  (Pseudoscaphirhynchus kaufmanni)

Small narrow snout (dwarf) form

1. iNaturalist 253558384; microchip implant 900263000-401875

2. iNaturalist 253566990; microchip implant 900263000-401871

3. iNaturalist 255307657; microchip implant 900263000-401864

4. iNaturalist 276822466; microchip implant 900263000-401873

5. iNaturalist 277888729; microchip implant 900263000-401862

6. iNaturalist 278887499; microchip implant 900263004-531347

7. iNaturalist 343829319; microchip implant 900263004-531346

8. iNaturalist 343826677; microchip implant 900263004-531348

Small Amu Darya Shovelnose Sturgeon  (Pseudoscaphirhynchus hermanni)

1. iNaturalist 276817662; microchip implant 900263004-531351

2. iNaturalist 321144646; microchip implant 900263004-531354

3. iNaturalist 343822551; microchip implant 900263004-531356

From March 3 to March 5, 2026 a team of specialists, enthusiasts and volunteers examined Amu Darya shovelnose sturgeons (Pseudoscaphirhynchu) initial brood stock at the Nukus Balyk fish hatchery, conducted ultrasound screening to determine sex and sexual maturity, took some morphological measurements, and collected tissue samples for genetic analysis. AcuVista VT880a portable water proof ultrasound scanner was used for ultrasound screening.

Among the team of specialists, enthusiasts and volunteers were:

Kallybek Primbetov - director of Nukus Balyk fish hatchery;

Ramatulla Temirbekov - ichthyologist, PhD, senior researcher at the Karakalpak Research Institute of Natural Sciences, Karakalpak Branch of the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan;

Kamalatdin Zhanabaev - chief specialist at Nukus Balyk fish hatchery;

Danil Domrachev - ichthyologist and fish propagation specialist, ultrasound screening specialist, author of the popular Telegram and YouTube channels "How Fish Farms Work";

Ansatbay Ilyasov - chief engineer at Nukus Balyk fish hatchery;

Alexey Chernyak - curator of the Eurasian Regional Association of Zoos and Aquariums (EARAZA) program for the conservation of the most rare sturgeon species of Eurasia;

Elena Kan - director of NGO “KIVA Center,” Uzbekistan, dedicated to advancing sustainable development by integrating science, education, research, production and agribusiness.

Amu Darya Shovelnoses preparatory examination on 04.04.2026

Tissue samples for genetic analysis, 04.04.2026