ABSTRACT
Artificial fertilization in farmed fish species throughout the world follows several routine procedures that may differ in details but follow the same general pattern. Eggs and sperm are extracted from individuals of the broodstock following induction of spawning, then gametes are mixed, activated with water or another fertilizing solution, and finally, fertilized eggs are incubated until hatching. To understand the processes that are manipulated during polyploidization, andro-and gynogenesis the physiological and genetic background of fertilization has to be discussed briefly. In this brief introduction we will concentrate on fertilization from the point of view of the egg as sperm is described in detail in several chapters of this book.
