Research on Artificial Breeding of Pelochelys cantorii from Oujiang River

From October 2021 to December 2022, a couple of Pelochelys cantorii rescued from Oujiang in 2015 was researched for artificial breeding. The result demonstrated that from July to August 2022, the female successfully laid 116 eggs three times with 29-44 eggs per clutch. 102 eggs of them were fertilized with a rate of 88.10%. The eggs were oval and rigid with an average weight of 16.54±0.89 g/egg, egg diameter of 3.16±0.18 cm. Under artificial conditions, 86 hatchlings were successfully hatched with a rate of 84.89%. The average incubation period under artificial temperature control was 57.43±4.28 day. The hatchlings weighed an average of 13.67±1.13 g and were fed with live fish fly in greenhouse for artificial breeding for nearly 100 days when their average weight reached 172.21±38.96 g with a survival rate of 100%.