Anyone local have some medaka?

[markkazdad]

Medaka (Oryzias latipes) are the fish currently on the International Space Station. I understand they are prolific breeders. Since some NARC members seem to have some connections to Japan, I wondered if anyone has any locally. From what I've read, they can be both freshwater and marine fish.

See for example:

Fish in International Space Station: Photos: Japanese Space Agency

 

[Tomoko Schum]

Never heard of Medaka being marine. I've kept some when I was growing up in Japan. They are egg bearers. I never had any offspring. Eggs were eaten probably by the parents.

 

[markkazdad]

I think freshwater may be more common, but I did find some mention of adapting them to saltwater. I am not sure what they are using on ISS, but they did do a water change right before the fish arrived.

For example...

Medaka ( Oryzias latipes ) as a model for hypoosmoregulation of euryhaline fishes | DeepDyve

 

[markkazdad]

I found a link with some video of the medaka on ISS. It's in Japanese, but you can look for the videos on 11/06 and 10/26. Today the ISS crew are planning to capture some of the fish.


http://iss.jaxa.jp/library/index.html

 

[Tomoko Schum]

I have gotten hold of Oryzias woworae recently. It is related to Medaka, but O. woworae is neon blue with red fins. They are terrific spawners. I have collected quite a few eggs. I should have a school of them in a few months. They will be placed in my planted tank along with my blue eye rainbowfish (Pseudomugil gertrudae Aru II) babies.

 

[markkazdad]

I've been fortunate to be on console several times when the ISS crew were tending to the Medaka. They spend a fair amount of time checking water parameters and getting bubbles out of the tank. The link I posted above now has some video from 1/4/2013.