Maraena whitefish, as a native fish species, most likely provides a good capability of adaptation to local aquaculture conditions, although due to the lack of breeding selection, the anthropogenic environment might cause a high stress susceptibility of this fish.
Therefore, the present study provides a first overview of the developmental, physiological, and molecular mechanisms occurring in maraena whitefish in response to culturing procedures and to aquaculture related stressors.
Maraena whitefish was found to be a suitable fish species for the establishment of a local, economic and sustainable aquaculture. However, it was shown that the stocking density, the temperature, and the water quality (reagarding pathogenic contaminations) must be carefully adjusted within optimal ranges, to avoid adverse effects on this sensitive species. Moreover, the data indicate that particularly SAA and HSP70 are promising candidate genes for the search for molecular markers.