ABSTRACT
The term aquaculture implies the husbandry of aquatic organisms, and consequently represents a subject as wide and as multifaceted as agriculture. A remarkable diversity of plant and animal species are cultivated; humans breed approximately 465 species from 28 different families of plants and 107 families of animals ranging from microscopic, unicellular blue-green algae (Spirulina), fragile shrimp (Litopenaeus, Macrobrachium) and hard-shelled oysters (Ostrea, Crassostrea) to sedate carp (Cyprinus), colorful ornamental fish (neon tetra Paracheirodon), and elegant salmon (Salmo, Oncorhynchus). Surprisingly, even huge tuna (Thunnus) and multi-meter long kelp (Laminaria, Undaria) 2 are counted among cultivated species.
