Estimates of Heritabilities and Genetic Correlations for Growth and Gonad Traits in Blunt Snout Bream,Megalobrama amblycephala

Blunt snout bream, Megalobrama amblycephala, is an herbivorous freshwater fish and has been recognized as a main aquaculture species in the Chinese freshwater polyculture system. The objective of the study is to estimate the genetic parameters for growth, body shape, and gonad traits for M. amblycephala at 1 yr of age. The phenotypic analysis showed that coefficients of variation for gonad traits had large variation relative to the other traits analyzed, and there was no sexual dimorphism by comparing growth and body shape in M. amblycephala. Based on restricted maximum likelihood and Markov chain Monte Carlo Bayesian methods using the animal model, the heritabilities of body weight (0.423–0.504), body length (0.309–0.678), body height (0.408–0.599), and dressed weight (0.359–0.643) were moderate and high, while the other traits, including conditional factor (0.029–0.199), body shape coefficient (0.095–0.405), edible ratio (0.073–0.207), gonad weight (0.018–0.170), and gonadosomatic index (0.050–0.222), had moderate or low heritabilities. High genetic and phenotypic correlations were found among growth traits, but not between growth traits and body shape or gonad traits except dressed weight. Based on our results, it could be efficient to combine the selection on body weight for fast growth and nonearly sexual maturity varieties of M. amblycephala breeding.     

Genetic parameters for growth‐related traits and survival with age in the Kuruma shrimp Marsupenaeus japonicus

Genetic parameters were estimated for growth‐related traits and survival of the Kuruma shrimp Marsupenaeus japonicus based on 66 families, including 30 paternal half‐sib families, which were obtained using artificial insemination of two females by each male. The variance components for growth‐related trait and survival were estimated using a single‐trait animal model and a sir‐dam model, respectively, and genetic parameters were estimated using the restricted maximum likelihood method. The coefficients of variation for growth‐related traits such as body length (BL), abdominal length (AL), and body weight (BW) were 9.36%–22.44%, 10.61%–21.92%, and 26.47%–58.33%, respectively, at different ages (45, 75, 105, 135, and 165 days). The corresponding heritability estimates for each growth trait were 0.1545–0.1951, 0.1672–0.1905, and 0.1596–0.1934, respectively, all of which were found to be at moderate levels and increased with age. The heritability of survival on day 165 was low (0.003). The genetic correlations among growth traits were positive and high (0.7316–0.9896) at the different ages, suggesting that selection to improve any single growth trait will cause positive responses in other growth traits examined in M. japonicus. The genetic correlations between growth traits and survival were also positive but low (0.005–0.087), which indicated that only selecting for growth traits may not cause a positive correlated response in the survival of the core population. According to the above results, we suggested that growth and survival traits should be taken as improving targets of breeding in M. japonicus. These results provided reference data for selective breeding and multitrait selection of M. japonicus.     

Estimates of heritability and genetic correlations for growth‐related traits in the tiger prawn Penaeus monodon

Heritabilities and genetic and phenotypic correlations were estimated for body weight (BW), body length (BL), carapace length (CL), carapace width (CW) and carapace height (CH) of the Penaeus monodon from measurements on progeny at 6 months of age resulting from a nested mating design. Estimation was made on data from 41 full‐sib and 10 half‐sib families. The estimated heritabilities for these traits were 0.13–0.24, and the significantly phenotypic and genetic correlations were 0.81–0.94 and 0.88–1.00, respectively. The present results indicate that genetic improvement through selective breeding conducted on P. monodon might be feasible and would be an efficient method to obtain a positive response to selection.     

Phenotypic and genetic parameters of body size traits in Atlantic salmon Salmo Salar L.

Data on two year classes of Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar L., reared for 2 years in sea water, were analysed. Records were obtained on 1271 offspring of 58 sires and 171 dams mated hierarchically. Medium-high sire heritabilities (0.30-0.38) were found for ungutted and gutted body weights, body length, body circumference and condition factor (whole-body traits). Corresponding estimates for height and width of cutlet and average thickness of the abdominal wall ranged from 0.23 to 0.27. The latter measurements were made on a transversal section anterior to the dorsal fin. Heritability estimates derived from the dam component of variance corresponded in general to the sire estimates, indicating the absence of non-additive genetic and environmental effects common to full sibs. Estimated phenotypic and genetic correlations among the traits were all positive. With regard to the likely breeding goal of a commercial selection programme, the genetic correlations of ungutted and gutted body weights with condition factor (r_G=0.36-0.37) were judged unfavourable. The results revealed substantial impact of sex and sexual maturation status on growth. The need is stressed for proper adjustment for these effects when assessing growth or growth-related data.     

Estimation of genetic parameters for growth traits of Japanese flounder <Emphasis Type="Italic">Paralichthys olivaceus</Emphasis> using an animal model

To estimate genetic parameters of growth traits in Japanese flounder Paralichthys olivaceus, full-sib and half-sib families were produced in three consecutive years at the Beidaihe Central Experiment Station in China. Each year 8–28 families were produced. The body weight, body length and body depth at 180, 240, and 360 days of age were measured for 5,224 individuals. Four animal models were used to examine the phenotypic variation of growth traits and were compared using the likelihood ratio test. The results showed that estimates for additive genetic effect heritabilities varied greatly depending on the model, trait and age. The maternal effect had a significant impact on phenotypic variation only for body depth at 180 days of age, which explained 49% of the phenotypic variance. The ratio of full-sib effect to phenotypic variation ranged from 0.09 to 0.22. Growth traits all exhibited low heritability (0.13–0.39), indicating that there is the potential for family selection breeding for these traits in Japanese flounder. Using the full model with the fixed, full-sib family, additive and maternal genetic effects, genetic correlations among the three traits for fish of the same age were estimated to be more than 0.80. Generally, the genetic correlations gradually increased as age increased.     

Phenotypic and genetic parameters for body traits in the giant freshwater prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) in India

Phenotypic and genetic parameters were estimated for three body traits (harvest weight, carapace length and standard length) and for adult male morphotypes of the giant freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii in a fully pedigreed synthetic population in India. The data set included 9,173 progeny produced over four generations from 162 sires and 234 dams. Variance components and genetic parameters were estimated fitting an animal model using the residual maximum‐likelihood methodology. The heritabilities for harvest body weight (HW), carapace length (CL) and standard length (SL) were moderate (0.22 ± 0.056, 0.22 ± 0.055 and 0.25 ± 0.059 respectively). The common environmental effects for HW, CL and SL were 0.10 ± 0.020, 0.08 ± 0.018 and 0.10 ± 0.021 respectively. As M. rosenbergii is sexually dimorphic, we estimated heritabilities within each sex. Heritability of HW in females (0.27 ± 0.068) was greater than that in males (0.15 ± 0.057). CL and SL followed the same pattern. The occurrence of male morphotypes is a unique characteristic of adult populations of M. rosenbergii. Populations from culture ponds exhibit a wide range of sizes. To examine whether there was a heritable component in male morphotype frequencies, we treated male morphotypes as traits. The additive genetic variance (and hence the heritability) was zero for male morphotype, indicating that selective breeding to increase the proportion of desirable male morphotypes would not be effective. The genetic correlations among body traits were all positive, high and approaching unity. The results are discussed in relation to selection plans for the giant freshwater prawn.     

Estimation of genetic parameters for growth traits in cultured clam Meretrix meretrix (Bivalvia: Veneridae) using the Bayesian method based on Gibbs sampling

The aim of this study was to estimate the genetic parameters of the growth performance of clam Meretrix meretrix. As part of the breeding programme, 25 full‐sib families nested within eight half‐sib families were produced, planted out and tested to assess the heritability of the total body weight (TW), shell length (SL), shell height (SH) and shell width (SW) at different growth stages. Method of analysis was implemented using the Bayesian method based on the Multiple Trait using Gibbs Sampling under Animal Model program, which was used to estimate the (co)variance components of the traits and conduct genetic analysis. A total of 25 full‐sib families, each with 30–35 individuals within family, were used for the analysis. Significant positive genetic and phenotypic correlations between SL, SW, SH and TW with each other were observed. The growth traits showed high‐magnitude heritabilities, with values ranging from 0.64 to 0.85, which indicates that these traits should respond to selection and therefore should be included in genetic improvement programmes.     

Estimating reproductive success of brooders and heritability of growth traits in Asian sea bass (Lates calcarifer) using microsatellites

Asian sea bass (Lates calcarifer) is one of the most important marine food fish species in Asia and Australia. To estimate the reproductive success of broodstock and heritabilities of growth‐related traits, two independent full‐factorial crosses (PI and PII) were created by crossing 10 males and 10 females. At 90 days post hatch (dph), the body weight (BW) and total length (TL) of 804 individuals from PI and 900 individuals from PII were measured and tissues samples of each fish were collected. Parents and offspring were genotyped with nine polymorphic microsatellites. Out of 1704 offspring from the two crosses, 98.7% were assigned to their parents. In PI, 19 of 20 parents produced offspring, while in PII, only five parents contributed to offspring. Low contribution of parents to offspring could lead to reduced genetic variation in the next generation. Heritabilities for growth‐related traits were estimated using the pedigrees reconstructed using microsatellite genotypes. The estimates of heritability were 0.22±0.16 and 0.25±0.18 for BW, 0.31±0.14 and 0.24±0.21 for TL and 0.22±0.22 and 0.15±0.09 for Fulton's condition factor in the two crosses respectively. Body weights at 90 dph and at harvest (289 dph) were significantly correlated (r=0.601, P<0.01). Therefore, growth‐related traits could be improved by exploiting additive genetic effects through selective breeding, and broodstock candidates could be selected early in the production cycle.     

Genetic parameters of growth and survival in the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas

The Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas is a representative bivalve mollusc that is widely cultured in the world and is the largest molluscan group cultured in China. In order to assess the feasibility of improving survival of C. gigas through genetic selection, the heritability and genetic correlations for growth and survival traits between different life stages were examined. Genetic parameters were estimated based on intraclass correlations of 49 full‐sib families (29 half‐sib families) in larvae (4 and 20 days after fertilization) and spat (140 days after fertilization) stages. The heritability for growth traits in larvae and spat was 0.30–0.86 and 0.53–0.59, respectively, and varied with ages. The heritability of survival was low in larvae (0.13 ± 0.05 and 0.17 ± 0.04, respectively for 4 and 20 days after fertilization) but medium (0.39 ± 0.07) in spat, suggesting that selection for increasing spat survival was feasible. The genetic correlation between growth traits within age was medium to high and positive (ranging from 0.47 to 0.96, respectively, between shell length (SL) and shell height (SH) at 20 days and between SL and SH at 140 days after fertilization), suggesting that selection to improve single growth trait will cause positive response in another growth traits in C. gigas. The genetic correlations between survival and growth traits at 140 days were low but positive (ranging from 0.23 to 0.27, respectively, between survival and SH and between survival and SL at 140 days after fertilization), suggesting that selection for survival may not have a negative response in growth. Overall, this study suggests that survival traits should be taken as improving target of next selection breeding programme in C. gigas.     

Estimates of heritabilities and genetic correlations for growth and gonad traits in the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus intermedius

The present study is the first estimate for the sea urchin, Strongylocentrotus intermedius, of genetic parameters for growth and gonad traits during the entire reproductive period. 2165–5764 sea urchins were sampled from 74 to 120 families at six different growth stages. Six hundred individuals were sampled from 20 randomly chosen families at harvest. Coefficients of variation for most growth and gonad traits were high (18.08–78.66%) suggesting a good variation foundation for breeding. Point estimate for heritabilities based on the sire components of variance were moderate to high for test height (0.24–0.39), test diameter (0.21–0.48) and body weight (0.16–0.49). Heritabilities of gonad wet weight, gonad index and gonad moisture at harvest were 0.17, 0.41 and 0.50 respectively (moderate or high). Gonad colour parameters, L^* (lightness) and a^* (redness) have a heritability of 0, while b^* (yellowness) and colour difference ΔE₁ and ΔE₂ have very similar heritabilities of 0.2, 0.18 and 0.21 respectively. Heritabilities of β‐carotene concentration and content were 0.89 and 0.44 respectively. The genetic correlations between the two measured traits ranged from ?0.984 to 0.999. Gonad wet weight, L^*, b^*, β‐carotene concentration and β‐carotene content had significant positive genetic correlations with all the growth traits. However, gonad index, gonad moisture and colour differences ΔE₁ and ΔE₂ had significant negative genetic correlations with growth traits. The present study indicates that growth, gonad yield and most gonad quality traits could be improved by selection with moderate to high potential. Indirect selection should be applied on gonad traits using growth traits as secondary traits. The present study provides important theoretical guidance for future selective breeding programmes for S. intermedius.     

Genetic effects on carcass-quality traits in hybrid striped bass (Morone chrysops♀×Morone saxatilis♂)

A 10 × 10 factorial mating design was used to examine the genetic effects on various carcass‐quality traits in hybrid striped bass (Morone chrysops♀×Morone saxatilis♂). A total of 448 offspring were raised in a ‘common‐garden’ environment and carcass‐quality traits were assessed at 389 days post fertilization; parentage of each fish was inferred from genotypes at 5–10 nuclear‐encoded microsatellites. There was a significant effect of dam and sire on body weight and fillet weight and a significant effect of dam on viscera weight and condition factor. When carcass‐quality traits were standardized to body weight, there was a significant effect of dam, sire and dam × sire interaction on viscera percentage (proportion of viscera weight to body weight). Phenotypic correlations between body weight and non‐standardized carcass‐quality traits were high (r_p=0.80–0.92), whereas phenotypic correlations between body weight and standardized carcass‐quality traits were low (r_p=0.13–0.19). Genetic correlations between body weight and fillet weight (dams and sires), and body weight and viscera weight (dams only) were significant and positive, while the genetic correlations between body weight and viscera percentage (dams and sires) were significant and negative. Significant general combining ability values for favourable carcass‐quality traits in the same breeder (dam or sire) occurred only in one or two of 20 (dams and sires) used in this study, suggesting that simultaneous improvement in multiple traits in hybrid striped bass may require evaluation of large numbers of candidate breeders. The effect of sex on body weight and all non‐standardized carcass‐quality traits was significant and appeared to be due to faster growth in females. These results indicate that selection for faster growth of hybrid striped bass would lead to a correlated increase in fillet weight and viscera weight but not necessarily to an increase in the proportion of fillet and waste product generated. The significant dam, sire and dam × sire interaction effects on viscera percentage and the negative genetic correlations between body weight and viscera percentage indicate that selection for reduced proportion of viscera relative to body weight might be feasible.     

Estimates of genetic and phenotypic parameters for length and weight of marine net-pen reared coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch Walbaum)

Heritabilities and genetic and phenotypic correlations were estimated for length and weight of two brood years (BY 1977 and BY 1978) of coho salmon [Oncorhynchus kisutch (Walbaum)] during the marine net-pen phase of rearing. The estimates were calculated from length and weight measurements on progeny resulting from a nested mating design and measurements at approximately 4 and 7 months after entering sea water. Point estimate for heritabilities based on the sire component for BY 1977 were low to moderate (0.02–0.19) and did not differ significantly from zero. On the other hand, BY 1978 estimates ranged from 0.31 to 0.62 and, with two exceptions, were significantly different from zero. The latter estimates may have been inflated by inclusion of variances from non-additive sources, but still indicated that differences in the genetic potential for increased growth between the two year classes may be substantial. Genetic correlations between length and weight within sampling periods were consistently high (0.95–1.00), indicating that pleiotropic gene action or close linkage among genes affects length and weight. Genetic correlations between body size traits (length and weight) between sampling periods varied considerably but suggested a potential for indirect selection gains. Genetic correlation approximations derived using family means or ranks appeared to provide reliable estimates and may be useful when environmental influences cause a significant deviation from normality.     

Heritability estimates for nutritional quality‐related traits of the Pacific oyster,Crassostrea gigas

Pacific oysters, Crassostrea gigas, are the most abundantly harvested shellfish in the world and are ecologically significant. The content of nutrients, including protein, glycogen, lipid, zinc (Zn), and selenium (Se), is important for oyster meat quality, but heritability estimates of such traits have rarely been reported. In this study, 64 full‐sib families were generated using a nested mating design. Finally, 18 full‐sib families, of which there were nine half‐sib families, with each containing 2 full‐sib families, were sampled for heritability estimates. The narrow‐sense heritabilities of glycogen, protein, lipid, Zn, and Se contents were 0.29 ± 0.02, 0.38 ± 0.02, 0.58 ± 0.08, 0.02 ± 0.02, and 0, respectively. Negative genetic correlations existed between both glycogen and protein content (?0.95 ± 0.004) and between lipid and protein content (?0.59 ± 0.05), whereas a positive correlation was observed between lipid and glycogen content (0.16 ± 0.06). Weak genetic and phenotypical correlations (r = 0–0.2) were observed between shell height and nutritional quality traits. These data demonstrated that glycogen, protein, and lipid content can be chosen in a selective breeding program, but glycogen and lipids cannot be selected together with protein. Furthermore, performing indirect selective breeding for quality traits by selecting traits related to growth is impossible. This study provides information for the development of breeding strategies for oyster quality traits.     

Heritability Estimates and Genetic Correlations Among Body Weight and Measurement Traits of Large‐size Rainbow Trout,Oncorhynchus mykiss,in China

The variance components of additive effects and genetic correlations of body weight (BW) and body measurement traits were estimated in a freshwater strain selected for large size in a breeding program for rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, in China. Phenotypic data were collected for BW and measurement traits from 2362 individuals with a two‐generation pedigree, and the average information‐restricted maximum likelihood method was used for the genetic analysis. The genetic parameters of BW were estimated at three time points (550, 850, and 1000 days post‐fertilization [dpf]), showing high heritability in a range from 0.33 to 0.98. However, the heritability estimates of total length (TL) showed lower values ranging from 0.05 to 0.51, with high standard errors. Genetic correlation between TL and BW was almost equal to unity at 550 dpf, and the genetic correlations between TL at 550 dpf and BW at two other time points were all positive and very high (ca. 0.95–0.99). These results indicate that BW and TL selected at 550 dpf had a direct positive effect on BW performance at 1000 dpf, which was 450 d before the date of the target trait observed.     

Estimating the heritability for growth-related traits in the pearl oyster,Pinctada fucata martensii (Dunker)

Twelve paternal half-sib families (or 36 full-sib families) of the pearl oyster, Pinctada fucata martensii (Dunker), were produced according to the requirements of hierarchical genetic mating design. A total of 4320 individuals, aged 15 months, were measured for seven growth-related traits. Predicated upon the additive-dominance genetic analysis model, varying genetic variance components and then heritabilities of the growth-related traits of interest were estimated using analysis of variance. Results showed that seven growth-related traits had larger additive genetic variances (P<0.05); the dominance genetic variance of shell weight (SW) was smaller (P>0.05), the dominance genetic variances of other six traits were all larger (P<0.05). Narrow- and broad-sense heritabilities for the seven traits were, respectively, 0.64 ± 0.10 and 0.78 ± 0.12 for shell length, 0.49 ± 0.06 and 0.63 ± 0.09 for shell height, 0.38 ± 0.14 and 0.54 ± 0.16 for shell breadth, 0.41 ± 0.17 and 0.56 ± 0.11 for hinge length, 0.53 ± 0.11 and 0.68 ± 0.08 for body weight, 0.35 ± 0.07 and 0.55 ± 0.08 for tissue weight and 0.67 ± 0.10 and 0.75 ± 0.16 for SW. All heritability estimates were statistically significant (P<0.05). According to these results, the mass selection procedure is suggested for the breeding of P. martensii.     

Should only females of giant freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii be selected in genetic improvement programmes?

Sexual dimorphism is widely observed in almost all farmed aquatic animal species but giant freshwater pawn (GFP) is unique, with males characterized by three main morphotypes (blue claw, orange claw and small males) and females by different reproduction status (ovary, berried egg and already‐spawned females). There has been reported evidence that the effect of male morphotype may have masked genetic variation in growth‐related traits, as a result the heritability for male body weight was lower than that estimated in female. A pending question has arisen whether selection should be made in female only. To answer this question, we used an 8‐year data set from a long‐term selection programme (2008–2015) for high growth in this species comprising 106,756 individuals that were offspring of 515 sires and 810 dams. The body weight data of female and male GFP or of each morphotype was treated as a separate trait and a multi‐trait approach was used to estimate genetic correlations for homologous traits between sexes and between morphotypes. Our analysis showed that there were little differences in the heritability estimates between female and male. In female, mature ovary individual displayed higher heritability than berried egg and already‐spawned females. For male, the heritability for blue claw, orange claw and small males were 0.11, 0.06 and 0.00 respectively. Between‐sex genetic correlation was moderate (0.55 ± 0.11) for body weight, suggesting that the trait expressions in female and male may be genetically different. In female, the genetic correlations for body weight among three female types were close to one (0.91–0.94). In contrast, the genetic correlations for body weight between male morphotypes especially between blue claw or orange claw and small males were low (0.15–0.25). Furthermore, we estimated genetic gain as the difference in least square means (LSM) or estimated breeding values (EBV) between the selection line and control group. The genetic gain in body weight was smaller in females than in males. It is concluded that there is no need to run separate breeding programme for female and male GFP. A combined selection using both female and male data can achieve selection response for body weight as demonstrated in the present study.     

Identification of quantitative trait loci for growth‐related traits in the swimming crab Portunus trituberculatus

The swimming crab (Portunus trituberculatus) is an economically important species in Asian aquaculture. Implementing growth‐related traits of P. trituberculatus into genetic breeding programmes is an ongoing effort. We used a previously published genetic linkage map of P. trituberculatus, containing 55 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers and 172 amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) techniques to map quantitative trait loci (QTL) for growth‐related traits in a single full sibling F₂ family. Ten growth‐related traits were measured for QTL mapping. Composite interval mapping identified 9 QTL on the female map and 16 on the male map. Individual QTL with additive effects explained 11–38% of the phenotypic variance for various traits using the female parent's map, and from 1% to 21% using the male parent's map. Two QTL explaining a large percentage of variation in body weight were detected on chromosome 17 on the female map, and on chromosome 16 on the male map, and contributed 38% and 18% of the phenotypic variance respectively. This is the first study to report the detection and positioning of major QTL affecting growth in a true crab species (Brachyura). The mapping of growth‐related QTL in this study raises the possibility of improving the growth of P. trituberculatus through marker‐assisted selection.     

Quantitative trait locus mapping of growth‐related traits in inter‐specific F1 hybrid grouper (Epinephelus fuscoguttatus × E. lanceolatus) in a tropical climate

Growth‐related traits are the main target of genetic breeding programmes in grouper aquaculture. We constructed genetic linkage maps for tiger grouper (Epinephelus fuscoguttatus) and giant grouper (E. lanceolatus) using 399 simple sequence repeat markers and performed a quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis to identify the genomic regions responsible for growth‐related traits in F₁ hybrid grouper (E. fuscoguttatus × E. lanceolatus). The tiger grouper (female) linkage map contained 330 markers assigned to 24 linkage groups (LGs) and spanned 1,202.0 cM. The giant grouper (male) linkage map contained 231 markers distributed in 24 LGs and spanned 953.7 cM. Six QTLs affecting growth‐related traits with 5% genome‐wide significance were detected on different LGs. Four QTLs were identified for total length and body weight on Efu_LG8, 10, 13 and 19 on the tiger grouper map, which explained 6.6%–12.0% of the phenotypic variance. An epistatic QTL with a reciprocal association was observed between Efu_LG8 and 10. Two QTLs were identified for body weight on Ela_LG3 and 10 on the giant grouper map, which explained 6.9% of the phenotypic variance. Two‐way analysis of variance indicated that the QTL on Efu_LG13 interacts with the QTLs on Ela_LG3 and 10 with large effects on body weight. Furthermore, these six QTLs showed different features among the winter, summer and rainy seasons, suggesting that environmental factors and fish age affected these QTLs. These findings will be useful to understand the genetic structure of growth and conduct genetic breeding in grouper species.     

草鱼幼鱼生长性状和肌肉成分的遗传参数估计

为了研究草鱼幼鱼阶段生长性状和肌肉成分的遗传改良潜力。随机采集288尾人工繁育的4月龄草鱼幼鱼,基于12对微卫星标记,鉴定出来自16个家系（8个母本,9个父本）的273尾个体,各家系、母本和父本对应子代贡献率存在极显著差异（P<0.01）。对草鱼3个生长性状（体质量、体长和肥满度）和2个肌肉成分指标（粗蛋白含量和粗脂肪含量）比较发现,3个生长性状和粗蛋白含量在家系和母系半同胞间存在显著差异（P<0.05）,而3个生长性状和2个肌肉成分指标在父系半同胞间差异均不显著（P>0.05）。基于动物模型和限制性最大似然法,草鱼4月龄体质量、体长、肥满度、粗蛋白含量和粗脂肪含量的遗传力估值分别为0.34、0.33、0.17、0.17和0.20,其中3个生长性状遗传力估值统计检验显著（P<0.05）。遗传相关分析显示,体质量与体长之间呈极显著的高度正相关（0.82, P<0.01）,肥满度与体质量和2个肌肉成分之间存在显著的正相关（0.17-0.29, P<0.05）。研究表明,草鱼4月龄生长性状具有较高的选育潜力,并可通过体长选择实现对体质量的遗传改良;推测在草鱼生长改良过程中,可能会伴随肥满度和粗脂肪含量的变化,这应当引起重视。     

Quantitative genetic properties of four measures of deformity in yellowtail kingfish Seriola lalandi Valenciennes, 1833

The main aim of this study was to estimate the heritability for four measures of deformity and their genetic associations with growth (body weight and length), carcass (fillet weight and yield) and flesh‐quality (fillet fat content) traits in yellowtail kingfish Seriola lalandi. The observed major deformities included lower jaw, nasal erosion, deformed operculum and skinny fish on 480 individuals from 22 families at Clean Seas Tuna Ltd. They were typically recorded as binary traits (presence or absence) and were analysed separately by both threshold generalized models and standard animal mixed models. Consistency of the models was evaluated by calculating simple Pearson correlation of breeding values of full‐sib families for jaw deformity. Genetic and phenotypic correlations among traits were estimated using a multitrait linear mixed model in ASReml. Both threshold and linear mixed model analysis showed that there is additive genetic variation in the four measures of deformity, with the estimates of heritability obtained from the former (threshold) models on liability scale ranging from 0.14 to 0.66 (SE 0.32–0.56) and from the latter (linear animal and sire) models on original (observed) scale, 0.01–0.23 (SE 0.03–0.16). When the estimates on the underlying liability were transformed to the observed scale (0, 1), they were generally consistent between threshold and linear mixed models. Phenotypic correlations among deformity traits were weak (close to zero). The genetic correlations among deformity traits were not significantly different from zero. Body weight and fillet carcass showed significant positive genetic correlations with jaw deformity (0.75 and 0.95, respectively). Genetic correlation between body weight and operculum was negative (?0.51, P < 0.05). The genetic correlations' estimates of body and carcass traits with other deformity were not significant due to their relatively high standard errors. Our results showed that there are prospects for genetic selection to improve deformity in yellowtail kingfish and that measures of deformity should be included in the recording scheme, breeding objectives and selection index in practical selective breeding programmes due to the antagonistic genetic correlations of deformed jaws with body and carcass performance.