What are the chicks?
The term avannotto refers to the newly born fish, from the moment they take on the appearance of an adult, once the larval phase has passed.
How do fish reproduce?
Fish generally reproduce in three different ways. Depending on the characteristics of the species in question, we can distinguish between oviparous, viviparous, and ovoviviparous fish.
In the oviparous reproduction, the most common (e.g., pike and perch), fertilization occurs outside the fish. The eggs are in fact released directly into the water by the female and are reached by the male’s seminal fluid that fertilizes them. This naturally involves risks since it exposes the eggs to external dangers, not only from other fish but also from natural events such as sudden changes in temperature or currents. Some fish, in fact, after mating abandon the eggs to the current, others build a nest or cover them with sediment. Only a few species adopt parental care by protecting the nest or the young fry.
In the viviparous reproduction, however, the embryos develop inside the female. At the end of gestation, usually about a month later, the born offspring are already able to swim.
Oviparous fish are similar to viviparous species, since there is again internal fertilization; however, after sexual intercourse the female deposits the eggs inside her body and the young develop internally within the egg, feeding on the elements that make up the egg itself and emerging externally when the eggs hatch (e.g., some sharks).
Most species of fish have separate sexes; therefore, there are males and females, but some species are hermaphrodites. Hermaphroditism can be synchronous, in which the male and female gonads develop simultaneously, and in rare cases self-fertilization is possible; in other fish, the gonads develop later (sequential hermaphroditism), and the sexual reversal occurs. If the fish is born male and subsequently transforms into a female, it is called protorandria (e.g., orate); if the opposite occurs, it is called protoginia (cernia).
Where are the chicks raised?
The fry grow in the avannotters: special structures consisting of large tanks in which light and temperature are controlled.
After reproduction, which takes place in specific tanks where the fish can lay and fertilize eggs without experiencing external stress, the larvae, the future fry, are moved to other tanks where the fish spend the first stages of development. Through strict and careful control to ensure the optimal environmental conditions, the fry grow until they reach the appropriate size and are transferred to the sea in floating cages where they can complete their growth process.