For the first time in the country, the sand lobster has been successfully bred in captivity. The Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research achieved the breakthrough at its Chennai research centre. The success was achieved by a team led by young scientist Jeo K Kizhakudan at the Kovalam field laboratory after numerous trials. The only other country which has successfully bred the sand lobster is Australia.The sand lobster (Thenus orientalis) has a short larval phase. This is a big advantage in developing commercially feasible hatchery technology as also organising the export market. Fertilised eggs hatch out after an incubation period of 35 days. The final stage phyllosoma larvae settled as post larvae 25 days after hatching.Though survival rate is not very high at just 14 per cent, scientists are confident that with improved feed and water management, higher survival is possible. It will be a few more years, though, before the entire package of technology is ready for commercialisation.In the meanwhile, scientists at the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute are planning to start a pilot project to field test the results in the Tamil Nadu and Kerala coastal areas.
