Department of Aquaculture
Contact:
Dr. Béla Urbányi and Dr. Ákos Horváth
Urbanyi.Bela@mkk.szie.hu and Horvath.Akos@mkk.szie.hu
Phone: +36 28 522 000 ext. 2315
Address:
Department of Aquaculture, Institute of Environmental and Landscape Management, Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences,
Szent István University,
H-2100 Gödöllő, Páter Károly u. 1., Hungary
Description
The Department of Aquaculture of Szent István University is the only higher education department in Hungary dedicated entirely to education and research in aquaculture. The team of the department currently consists of 32 persons, including 1 professor emeritus, 9 people holding a PhD degree, 13 research and teaching associates, 2 administrators and 7 PhD students. The department is relatively new, it was formed by the aquaculture group of the former Institute of Animal Husbandry in 2000.
The mission of the Department is to represent and foster the activities of the fisheries and aquaculture sector in Hungary. This activity includes information transfer from basic knowledge through pond fish farming technologies to the most state-of-the-art molecular methods to various stakeholders including students of graduate and post-graduate training, scientists, professionals and anyone interested.
Main lines of research
Scienti”c research of the department is mostly applied research and technological development conducted in several main directions, including:
• Biology of reproduction and gametes as well as induced spawning of various fish species,
• Aquatic toxicology,
• Conservation of aquatic genetic resources,
• Stress research in fish,
• Pond and intensive aquaculture,
• Molecular biology.
The various research directions are interlinked in the research projects of the department. Thus, gamete research is generally conducted within the frames of induced spawning technology development as well as species conservation work.
* Gamete research is one of the principal research directions of the department. The current topics of gamete research in Gödöllő include the following:
* Induced spawning of the European eel (Anguilla anguilla),
* Cryopreservation of fish sperm including its application to the practice in collaboration with the Angling Club of Tolmin in Slovenia,
* Development of induced spawning technologies for rare or endangered fish species, such as Carassius carassius, Misgurnus fossilis, Umbra krameri,
* Sexual maturation of the Asian sea bass or barramundi (Lates calcarifer),
* Oocyte transplantation in fish.
The department is equipped with a state-of-the-art zebrafish holding facility consisting currently of 6 racks and one central water treatment unit, a molecular biology laboratory, a histology laboratory, a microscope laboratory housing a CASA system and a general laboratory with equipment and apparel for research on cryopreservation. Most of the cryopreservation work is typically conducted in the field in collaboration with various aquaculture farms and organizations.
Links:
http://fishreprodsziu.blogspot.hu/?zx=cfe9956f8416e9bd
http://mkk.szie.hu/dep/halt/
Relevant publications
1. Bokor, Z., Urbányi, B., Horváth, L., and Horváth, Á. Commercial-scale cryopreservation of wels catfish (Silurus glanis) semen. Aquaculture Research 41 (2010), 1549–1551.
2. Csenki, Z., Zaucker, A., Kovacs, B., Hadzhiev, Y., Hegyi, A., Lefler, K.-K., Muller, T., Kovacs, R., Urbanyi, B., Varadi, L., and Muller, F. Intraovarian transplantation of stage I-II follicles results in viable zebrafish embryos. Int J Dev Biol 54, 4 (2010), 585–589.
3. Horváth, Á., Bubalo, A., Čučević, A., Bartulović, V., Kotrik, L., Urbányi, B., and Glamuzina, B. Cryopreservation of sperm and larvae of the European flat oyster (Ostrea edulis). Journal of Applied Ichthyology 28 (2012), 948–951.
4. Horváth, Á., Chèvre, P., and Urbányi, B. Sperm cryopreservation in sturgeon with a special focus on A. sturio. In Biology and Conservation of the European Sturgeon Acipenser sturio L. 1758, P. Williot, E. Rochard, N. Desse-Berset, F. Kirschbaum, and J. Gessner, Eds. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2011, pp. 465–475. 10.1007/978-3-642-20611-535.
5. Horváth, Á., Hoitsy, G., Kovács, B., Kánainé Sipos, D., Ősz, Á., Bogataj, K., and Urbányi, B. The effect of domestication on a brown trout (Salmo trutta m fario) broodstock in Hungary. Aquaculture International (2013), 1–7.
6. Horváth, Á., Jesenšek, D., Csorbai, B., Bokor, Z., Raboczki, É., Kaczkó, D., Bernáth, G., Hoitsy, G., Urbányi, B., Sušnik Bajec, S., and Snoj, A. Application of sperm cryopreservation to hatchery practice and species conservation: A case of the Adriatic grayling (Thymallus thymallus). Aquaculture 358–359, 0 (8 2012), 213–215.
7. Horváth, Á., Urbányi, B., Wang, C., Onders, R. J., and Mims, S. D. Cryopreservation of paddlefish sperm in 5-ml straws. Journal of Applied Icthyology 26 (2010), 715–719.
8. Kovács, É., Müller, T., Márián, T., Krasznai, Z., Urbányi, B., and Horváth, Á. Quality of cryopreserved African catfish sperm following post-thaw storage. Journal of Applied Icthyology 26 (2010), 737–741.
9. Mims, S. D., Tsvetkova, L. I., Wayman, W. R., Horváth, Á., Urbányi, B., and Gomelsky, B. Cryopreservation in Aquatic Sciences, 2 ed. World Aquaculture Society, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA, 2011, ch. Cryopreservation of sturgeon and paddlefish sperm, pp. 366–380.
10. Müller, T., Horváth, Á., Takahashi, E., Kolics, B., Bakos, K., Decsi, K., Kovács, B., Taller, J., Urbányi, B., Bercsényi, M., Horváth, L., Adachi, S., Arai, K., and Yamaha, E. Artificial hybridization of japanese and european eel (Anguilla japonica × A. anguilla) by using cryopreserved sperm from freshwater reared males. Aquaculture 350-353 (2012), 130–133.
11. Németh, Á., Orbán, K., Faidt, P., Horváth, Á., Müller, T., Szathmári, L., Urbányi, B., and Horváth, L. Induction of ovulation in the Pikeperch (Sander lucioperca L.) by ovarian lavage. Journal of Applied Ichthyology 28 (2012), 914–914.
12. Szentes, K., Mészáros, E., Szabó, T., Csorbai, B., Borbély, G., Bernáth, G., Urbányi, B., and Horváth, Á. Gonad development and gametogenesis in the Asian sea bass (Lates calcarifer) grown in an intensive aquaculture system. Journal of Applied Ichthyology 28 (2012), 883–885.