Evaluation of Various Tissues of the Caerulean Damsel, Pomacentrus caeruleus for Initiating In Vitro Cell Culture Systems

Abstract

Explantation and trypsinisation methods for tissue dissociation were attempted for the establishment of primary cell cultures from the caerulean damsel, Pomacentrus caeruleus. Among the tissues taken, fin, liver and caudal peduncle showed good attachment with emergence of cells. The cells were best suited to grow in Leibovitz’s L-15 basal medium supplemented with foetal bovine serum (initially 20 % which was later reduced to 5–10 % during subsequent passages) at an ambient temperature of 28 ± 2 �C and pH 7.2 ± 0.2. These cultures persisted at temperatures from 17 to 32 �C, and proliferated at temperatures from 24 to 30 �C. The cells have been cryopreserved successfully with a survival rate of 80 %. Results suggest that fin, caudal peduncle and liver cell cultures have potential for development into cell lines.