韶关市北江水系水利枢纽对鱼类繁殖的影响

The fish spawning ground had been investigated on the Beijiang River near Shaoguan city and the influence on fishes breeding from 7 dam had been estimated.Main result are as follows:the four dam building and designed will result in a big destruction.including disrupt the fish migration(Mengli Dam and ChangshanDam),the fish spawning ground disappear(below Zhangtan Dam).a huge destruction in Ankou fish spawning ground by Changan Dam and a serious of damage on grass lying -egg species will caused by Wantou Dam,especially for catifish Mystus suttatus.On the other hand Zhangtan Dam,Kongiiang Dam,and Menzhou Dam obstructed the fish exchange between upstream and lower stream,however a large water surface became before the dam supported a better condition for fish growth,it seems balance in positive and negative action.The conclusion is that those dam building or designed would be stop or delay in order to maintain fish population and aquatic ecological balance.     

黄河干流中上游水生生物资源调查研究

In order to protect scientifically the fishery resources and eco-environment of Yellow River , nine investigatioins on hydrobios in the middle and upper reaches of main Yellow River had been carried out since 2002 according to The Standard for the investigation of inland fishery resources. The investigations showed the present status of the fishery resources in these reaches are as follows ：87species （genera）and 8 phylum of phytoplankton,42 species and 6 phylum of zooplankton, 14 species（genera） of banthic organism , 5 species of hydroplant, 38 species of fish. A comparative analysis,With the results of ＂the Yellow River Fishery Resources Survey in 1982＂,shows that the general trend of the plankton is that the average biomass is getting apparently decreased, the aboriginal fishes are endangered intensifically, and there must be some problem of aquatic biological invasion in these reaches. A granual miniaturization of fishes in main Yellow River has been noticed. The authors proposed to carry out investigation and researches on hydrobios resources in main Yellow River , and develop plans to protect the fishery resources in yellow River, which will be an important basis for rehabilitation of the Yellow River waters and it＇s ecological environment, for the maintenance of biological diversity of Yellow River＇s waters. And this work will be of great significance for people＇s life and sustainable development of economics in Yellow River basin.     

动植物蛋白源替代鱼粉研究进展

With the fast development of aquaculture, fish meal needs increased in recent years, however the quantity of fish catching decreases gradually. Fishmeal is a limited feed resource, and serious concem exists on the future availability of this feedstuff for incorporation in fish diets. Undoubtedly, fish meal is well recognized as the best dietary protein source for most marine carnivorous fishes which required high dietary protein levels compared to omnivorous or herbivorous fish. Fishmeal is known for their high content of essential amino acids and fatty acids, low carbohydrates, high digestibility, low levels of anti-nutritional factors (for fresh fish meal) and is a very good source of minerals and is highly palatable. Thus fish meal is in high demand as the protein source for many formulated diets. However, production of fish meal consumes approximately 35 % of the total global fish catch, and the increasing price and potentially unstable supply in the market could be limiting factors for marine fish culture. There have been strong efforts to define and develop cost-effective protein sources that can, at least partly, substitute for expensive high-quality fish meals in least-cost feed formulations. The search for fish meal substitutes and altemative dietary protein sources is an international research priority that could be of considerable economic advantages. Therefore it is urgent task to find animal and plant protein sources in place of fish meal. Among these, plant feedstuffs have received most attention in recent years, but due to their amino acid unbalances, .presence of anti-nutritional factors and low palatability, a high level of replacement of fish meal with plant feedstuffs in omnivorous fish is generally not well accepted. This paper reviews the research status for other protein sources replacing fish meal based on available information in the literature. Animal and plant protein sources nutrient values are evaluated from the aspect of digestibility, antinutrients, physiological status and suitable supplementation.     

鱼类白细胞介素1β基因的研究概况

Interleukin-1β(IL-1β) is one of the most pleiotropic cytokines and a central regulator of the immune and inflammatory responses. Interleukin-1β was initially discovered within mice and humans and over the last 10 years has been characterized within a wide variety of animals. The IL-1β plays a key role in the inflammatory process, enhancing cell-mediated immunity by inducing the growth and proliferation of lymphocytes, connective tissue cells, and by stimulating immune and inflammatory response effector cells.As an immunoregulatory cytokine, IL-1β has the potential to enhance the immune response induced by a vaccine and/or to modulate the immune response leading to different effector mechanisms. It is produced by many cell types, including monocytes, macrophages,T and B lymphocytes, fibroblasts, and endothelial and epithelial cells. Expression is induced by a diverse range of stimuli, including mitogens, cytokines, and microbial products. There have been considerable evidences provided by biological cross reaction that fish produce IL-1β during immune responses, and the bioactivity of IL-1 in fish has been known for over a decade. But only. since 1999,IL-1β gene has been cloned from the rainbow trout. And from then on, IL-1β gene has been cloned and expressed in many fish confirming that fish produces IL-1β gene during immune responses. In mammals it is produced as an inactive precursor that is processed by interleukin converting enzyme (ICE) to give a biologically active ‘mature‘ peptide. There is no signal peptide in IL-1β and its mechanism is unknown. This is the special part of the gene structure of the IL-1β. And through the program analyzing, we found this special structure in fish IL-1β gene. This paper reviews the functions and structure of gene IL-1β and the studies of the gene IL-1β in fish recently.     

水产养殖动物基因组研究的现状及其应用前景

The genomic resources from human and several model organisms have been increased very fast since 1990. The techniques for developing genomic resources have already been very advanced and smart. These could make scientists see and improve organism in genomic level. For Chinese aquaculture scientists and aquatic industry, developing genomic resources and genetic tools for the native species are most important in the genomic era. The genomic resources and genetic tools for several aquatic species have been developed and some of them have been used in the marker based selection and other researches. The genome research work on aquaculture species was reviewed in this paper, especially a USDA genome project was focused. Some functional genomic research for aquatic animal was also discussed here. The importance and necessity of China aquaculture species genome project were discussed. Common carp and other cultured fishes in Cyprinidae such as grass carp, silver carp, bighead carp etc were recommended as the candidate species for genome research, because the output of all carps is almost up to 1/3 of total fisheries output in China. Common carp with another virtue for genome research is that there are much more families and strains in common carp than those in other cultured species in China, and those families and strains are the basis for genome research and mapping quantitative trait loci associated with important economic trait. Although the first linkage map of common carp made by Sun needs to be added with more markers for mapping QTL and Type I markers ,it has laid the groundwork for QTL mapping and markerassisted selection in common carp. Because the model organism zebrafish and common carp, grass carp and other carps cultured in China all belong to Cyprinidae, the China carp genome research will obtain a lot of useful information from zebrafish genome research. How the China carp genome program will be conducted and what kinds of strategy involved in this program were all suggested. How the results of the genome research of aquaculture species will be used in the aquaculture industry was reviewed and analyzed here.     

复合有益菌剂对工厂化大菱鲆育苗水净化效果研究

On the basis of purifying effect of single strain probiotic bacteria on water of intensive turbot breeding, the purifying effect of multistrain bacteria product was studied. The results of experiments showed that the free multistrain mixed bacteria had better purifying effect on turbot breeding water than that of any singlestrain bacteria. this phenomenon can be explained with the principle of “ biopump”. The immobilized multistrain probiotics product, biofilm, also showed excellent purifying effect on wate r of turbot breeding. The removal rates of COD and ammonia in 5 days were up to 73.1% and 80.0%, respectively. The concentration of nitrite kept low, which indicated most ammonia had been transformed into nitrate and accumulation of harmful intermediate productnitrite was decreased. This paper supplied theoretical and technical foundation for saving sea water through biopurification of wastewater from marine fish culture.     

鱼类粘膜免疫研究进展

Fish immunology has achieved great progress in recent years. While before 1990s, most researches focused on the fish systematic immunity, and the mucosal immunity of fish had not been given enough attention. Indeed, it has been shown that fish mucosal immunity plays an important role in disease defense. Fish mucosal immunity research has made some exciting progress in this decade. This review will focus on such progress: Constitution of mucosal-associated tissues and distribution of different immune cells, including T/B lymphocytes, granules, monocytes, macrophages, goblet cells, etc, in these sites have been well described with the development of some monoclonal antibody to these cells and associated techniques. Non-specific immune response mechanism of mucosal tissues reported these years, such as secretion of non-specific anti-bacteria and anti-fungi substances in mucus, the respiratory burst, enzyme activity of immune cells and so on, is believed important for fish disease defense. The specific immunity of mucosal tissues also attracts much interest and makes great achievement in antigen presenting, MHC genes, antibody producing and antibody secreting cells, comparison of serum and mucus immunoglobulin, relationships of immune response between different mucosal immune tissues. Whether mucosal immune system is independent of systematic immune system is another interesting question and causes great concern. In recent years, some evidences from phyletic evolution and ontogenesis show that mucosal immunity is prior to systematic immunity in evolution. Dynamics of antibody producing of mucosal tissues and serum in immersion or oral vaccines immunized fish also shows immune response can be elicited in mucosal tissues independent of systematic immune system. Some researchers also begin to pay attention to factors involved in mucosal immune regulations, for instance, neuromodulators and cytokines. The level of these factors changes in fish immune response process but the mechanisms of regulation still remain unknown. Prospect of the promising future of fish mucosal immunity has also been discussed in this review.     

鱼类几种新型免疫因子的研究进展

Cytokines are low molecular weight proteins that serve as chemical messengers within the innate and adaptive immune systems. To date, great progresses have been made in fish cytokine researches. A number of cytokine genes have been cloned and sequenced in fish. This review will focus on a number of novel immune-related cytokines including interleukin, interferon, interferon regulatory factors, Myxovirus resistance proteins, transforming growth factor, tumor necrosis factor, chemokines (CC and CXC chemokines), NK dell enhancement factor, MHCⅠ, MHCⅡ and some of their receptors, which have been identified in many fish species recently. Their genes and molecular structures are clarified. These cytokines are evolutionary well conserved. They share high identities at both the nucleotide and amino acid levels with the high vertebrate cytokines, and maintain characteristic structural motifs of those higher vertebrates. The function of some cytokine genes are analyzed in conventional manner by production of recombinant molecules. Several fish cytokines have been identified based on functional similarity to, or cross-reactivity with, mammalian cytokines. Moreover, molecular techniques, such as suppression subtractive hybridization, PCR and cDNA library screening, have recently enabled the identification of fish cytokine genes. Because of fish phylogenetic position and the fact that their immune systems have not been elaborated to the extent seen in mammals, progresses in this field will deepen our understanding of the molecular origins of cytokine genes and extend our knowledge on their mechanisms conferring disease resistance and the recombinant cytokines to control fish diseases.     

鱼粉在水产饲料中的应用研究

As a main protein source in aquafeeds, fish meal has been extensively studied. Fish sources, freshness, processing temperature, lipid quality and microbiological index are five main aspects of the evaluation of fish meal quality. This paper reviewed the researches on fish meal including the evaluation of fish meal quality, the use of fishmeal and the environmental problems. Biogenic amine is the main potential toxin in decomposed fish meal including mainly histamine, cadaverine, putrescine and tyramine and most studies showed that they could affect the fish growth performance and health. The determination of protein digestibility of fish meal includes pepsin-digestion method, animal test, capillary electrophoresis, etc. The content of phosphorus in fish meal and its utilization can introduce pollution to water bodies and the use of alternative protein and improvement of utilization of fish meal can help to reduce the pollution from fish meal.     

斑点叉尾鮰病毒对几种淡水鱼类细胞系感染性的初步研究

To study the susceptibility of multiple fresh water fish cell lines to channel catfish virus （CCV） and to evaluate and assess potentially pernicious impact of CCV on several rare and important economic fish species in China. Five cell lines established from several fish species including grass carp fins （GCF）, epithelioma papulosum cyprini （ EPC）, white sturgeon spleen （ WSS - 2 ）, chinook salmon embryo （ CHSE - 214 ） and parental control channel catfish ovary （CCO） were tested and compared for their sensitivity to CCV infection. After virns infection, test cells were characterized by cell morphology, cytopathic effect （CPE） appearance time, and infectious virus titer. Our results indicated that all these cell lines were sensitive to CCV, but at varied levels. Comparative viral challenge assays revealed that, among these five fish cell lines, GCF exhibited to be the most sensitive one to CCV infection, and infectious viral particles produced in this cell line is significantly more than that generated from parental CCO cells. EPC cells were also highly susceptible to CCV infection with a similar level of viral production as compared to CCO. Experimental data showed that all the test five cell lines were susceptible to CCV and present study suggests that CCV can be a potential pathogen to infect gYass carp, Cyprinus carpio and other fresh water fishes.     

Association between the interannual variation in the oceanic environment and catch rates of bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus) in the Atlantic Ocean

The environmental processes associated with variability in the catch rates of bigeye tuna in the Atlantic Ocean are largely unexplored. This study used generalized additive models (GAMs) fitted to Taiwanese longline fishery data from 1990 to 2009 and investigated the association between environmental variables and catch rates to identify the processes influencing bigeye tuna distribution in the Atlantic Ocean. The present findings reveal that the year (temporal factor), latitude and longitude (spatial factors), and major regular longline target species of albacore catches are significant for the standardization of bigeye tuna catch rates in the Atlantic Ocean. The standardized catch rates and distribution of bigeye tuna were found to be related to environmental and climatic variation. The model selection processes showed that the selected GAMs explained 70% of the cumulative deviance in the entire Atlantic Ocean. Regarding environmental factors, the depth of the 20 degree isotherm (D20) substantially contributed to the explained deviance; other important factors were sea surface temperature (SST) and sea surface height deviation (SSHD). The potential fishing grounds were observed with SSTs of 22–28°C, a D20 shallower than 150 m and negative SSHDs in the Atlantic Ocean. The higher predicted catch rates were increased in the positive northern tropical Atlantic and negative North Atlantic Oscillation events with a higher SST and shallow D20, suggesting that climatic oscillations affect the population abundance and distribution of bigeye tuna.     

Protein and amino acid composition from the mantle of juvenile O ctopus vulgaris exposed to prolonged starvation

Protein and amino acid composition of the mantle of juvenile O ctopus vulgaris (Cuvier, 1797) during fasting for 27 days were determined. Average protein content of octopus mantle was of 711.19 ± 46.80 g kg^?1 DW, and it decreased with increasing fasting days. The non‐essential amino acids content was higher (486.18 ± 11.08 g kg^?1 protein) than essential amino acids (425.82 ± 9.15 g kg^?1 protein) at the start of the experiment (unstarved animals). The results suggest that the amino acid profile of the mantle where the most abundant amino acids are Arg, His, Lys, Gly, Leu and Pro could indicate a prolonged fasting condition (>20 days) or poor nutrition of O . vulgaris. This study supports the idea of using mantle for metabolic needs of starved O . vulgaris suggesting that the degradation pathway of amino acids to pyruvate and tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates was favoured contrary to the degradation pathway of ketogenic amino acids. Special considerations should be taken concerning Thr, Ile, Ser, Ala, Asx (Asp, Asn), Glx (Glu, Gln) (because of their fast intake) and Lys and His (due to their stable contents) during a prolonged period of fasting.     

Growth performance,digestive enzyme activity and immune response of Japanese sea bass,Lateolabrax japonicus fed with fructooligosaccharide

In this experiment, a feeding trial was performed to determine the effects of fructooligosaccharide (FOS) on growth performance, digestive enzyme activity and immune response of Japanese sea bass, Lateolabrax japonicus juveniles (initial weight 38.3 ± 0.5 g), and the fish were examined following feeding with six levels of FOS (0, 0.5, 1, 2, 4 and 6 g/kg) for 28 days. Significant enhancement of weight gain (WG) and specific growth rate (SGR) was found in fish fed 1 g/kg FOS incorporated diets (p < .05), while the feed conversion ratio (FCR) in the 1, 2 g/kg FOS groups reduced significantly compared with the control (p < .05). Besides, the crude lipid in the 4, 6 g/kg FOS groups increased significantly compared with the control (p < .05). On the other hand, the erepsin and lipase activities significantly elevated in intestine of fish fed 2 g/kg FOS (p < .05) and the lysozyme activity in serum of fish fed 2 g/kg FOS were significantly higher than that in the control (p < .05). Moreover, the alkaline phosphatase activities in serum of fish fed 0.5, 1, 2 g/kg FOS were significantly higher than in control (p < .05). Regression analysis showed that the relationships between dietary FOS levels and either SGR, FCR, erepsin or lysozyme activities were best expressed by regression equations, and the optimal inclusion levels are 1.37, 1.80, 3.06, 3.11, 1.93 and 1.80 g/kg for SGR, FCR, erepsin, lipase, lysozyme and total superoxide dismutase activities, respectively. Overall, this study revealed that FOS incorporated diets could beneficial for L. japonicus culture in terms of increasing the growth, digestion and immune activities. Under the present experimental condition, the optimal supplementary level of FOS in the diet of L. japonicus is 1–3 g/kg.     

美人鱼发光杆菌对凡纳滨对虾非特异性 免疫功能及抗病力的影响

在基础饲料中分别添加0.1%和1%美人鱼发光杆菌灭活菌、0.1%美人鱼发光杆菌活菌配制成3种免疫实验饲料,以基础饲料为空白对照组饲料,每组设3个平行样。对个体质量为(4.83±0.36)g的凡纳滨对虾进行为期20 d的饲养实验,分别在0、5、10、15和20d进行取样,以血清中的酚氧化酶(PO)、酸性磷酸酶(ACP)、碱性磷酸酶(AKP)、超氧化物歧化酶(SOD)和溶菌酶(UL)活性为免疫指标,探讨了美人鱼发光杆菌作为免疫制剂对凡纳滨对虾非特异性免疫效应的影响;在投喂免疫饲料后的第22天,按0.004 2 kg/kg体重的剂量,直接投喂对虾白斑综合征病毒(WSSV)病料,并记录累积死亡率。结果表明,美人鱼发光杆菌免疫实验组对凡纳滨对虾血清中PO、ACP、AKP、UL和SOD活性影响明显高于对照组,并且在饲料中添加美人鱼发光杆菌后,明显提高了对虾抵御WSSV感染的能力。其中0.1%美人鱼发光杆菌活菌实验组的抗病毒感染能力最强,WSSV感染14d内累计死亡率为63.3%±5.8%;而对照组为96.7%±3.3%。研究表明,美人鱼发光杆菌添加在对虾饲料中能提高凡纳滨对虾非特异性免疫水平,增强抵抗疾病的能力,将其作为对虾免疫增强剂具有良好的应用前景。     

Effects of Spirulina platensis as a feed additive on growth and coloration of blue dolphin cichlids (Cyrtocara moorii Boulunger, 1902)

This study was carried out to investigate the effects of replacing fish meal with dietary Spirulina as a feed supplement on the growth performance and coloration of blue dolphin cichlids (Cyrtocara moorii). Five isonitrogenous (47% crude protein) and isocaloric (17.36 kJ/g digestible energy) diets were for formulated to replace FM with 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20% Spirulina (designated as Control, SP5, SP10, SP15 and SP20 respectively) and fed to the fish (initial body weight, 3.15 ± 0.01 g). Fish were randomly distributed into fifteen 120 L aquariums (26.5 ± 1.00°C), 15 fish per aquarium. The diets were tested in triplicate for 12 weeks. Experimental groups were fed twice daily (09:00 and 17:00) by hand to satiation. At the end of the feeding trial, significantly (p < 0.05) higher weight gain (WG), specific growth rate (SGR), protein efficiency ratio (PER) and lower feed conversion ratio (FCR) were observed in fish fed the SP10 diet when compared to the SP20 diet. There was no significant difference in these parameters between the other groups. The skin coloration of blue dolphin cichlid fed a diet containing Spirulina meal was enhanced. The best coloration was observed in the SP15 group. These impressions were objectively validated by chemical determinations of carotenoids extracted from fish skins and passed statistical tests of significance. The study findings show that Spirulina meal does not diminish growth rates except at very high levels.     

Dietary thiamin and pyridoxine requirements of fingerling Indian major carp,Cirrhinus mrigala (Hamilton)

Two experiments were conducted to quantify the dietary thiamin (experiment I) and pyridoxine (experiment II) requirements of fingerling Cirrhinus mrigala for 16 weeks. In experiment I, dietary thiamin requirement was determined by feeding seven casein–gelatin‐based diets (400 g kg^?1 CP; 18.69 kJ g^?1 GE) with graded levels of thiamin (0, 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 8 and 16 mg kg^?1 diet) to triplicate groups of fish (6.15 ± 0.37 cm; 1.89 ± 0.12 g). Fish fed diet with 2 mg kg^?1 thiamin had highest specific growth rate (SGR), protein retention (PR), RNA/DNA ratio, haemoglobin (Hb), haematocrit (Hct), RBCs and best feed conversion ratio (FCR). However, highest liver thiamin concentration was recorded in fish fed 4 mg thiamin kg^?1 diet. Broken‐line analysis of SGR, PR and liver thiamin concentrations exhibited the thiamin requirement in the range of 1.79–3.34 mg kg^?1 diet (0.096–0.179 μg thiamin kJ^?1 gross energy). In experiment II, six casein–gelatin‐based diets (400 g kg^?1 CP; 18.69 kJ g^?1 GE) containing graded levels of pyridoxine (0, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 mg kg^?1 diet) were fed to triplicate groups of fish (6.35 ± 0.37 cm; 1.97 ± 0.12 g). Fish fed diet containing 6 mg kg^?1 pyridoxine showed best SGR, FCR, PR, RNA/DNA ratio, Hb, Hct and RBCs, whereas maximum liver pyridoxine concentration was recorded in fish fed 8 mg kg^?1 dietary pyridoxine. Broken‐line analysis of SGR, PR and liver pyridoxine concentrations reflected the pyridoxine requirement from 5.63 to 8.61 mg kg^?1 diet. Data generated during this study would be useful in formulating thiamin‐ and pyridoxine‐balanced feeds for the intensive culture of this fish.     

Sea bream culture in Egypt; status, constraints and potential

Marine fish farming in Egypt began in 1976 with the culture of gilthead sea bream, (Sparus aurata) as this fish was notably adaptable to brackish and marine pond conditions. Today, marine fish and shrimp farms amount to about 19,000 ha, out of which 42% is already in production while the rest, i.e., 58% is still under construction. In 1997, cultured gilthead sea bream production of 2,250 tons made up 3% of the 75,000 tons total aquaculture catch. In polyculture, usually with the grey mullet and sea bass, gilthead sea bream contributed 440 kg ha^–1 to the total yield of 1,700 kg ha^–1 (26%) over a period of 16 months. For the same period, the yield of monoculture ponds averaged 100 kg ha^–1, while in marine cages, yields ranged from 4–10 kg m³. In 1996–1997, fry of 0.25–1 g and fingerlings 1–10 g with a total of 3 million, were collected from the wild and 1 million fry were produced in the three marine hatcheries out of the four existing ones. The development of sea bream culture in Egypt is now severely inhibited by the shortage of seeds and adequate feeds. Exports of both sea bream and sea bass, during 1994–1996 averaged 1,300 tons per year.     

A Minchinia mercenariae‐like parasite infects cockles Cerastoderma edule in Galicia (NW Spain)

The cockle Cerastoderma edule fishery has traditionally been the most important shellfish species in terms of biomass in Galicia (NW Spain). In the course of a survey of the histopathological conditions affecting this species in the Ria of Arousa, a haplosporidan parasite that had not been observed in Galicia was detected in one of the most productive cockle beds of Galicia. Uni‐ and binucleate cells and multinucleate plasmodia were observed in the connective tissue mainly in the digestive area, gills and gonad. The parasite showed low prevalence, and it was not associated with abnormal cockle mortality. Molecular identification showed that this parasite was closely related to the haplosporidan Minchinia mercenariae that had been reported infecting hard clams Mercenaria mercenaria from the Atlantic coast of the United States. The molecular characterization of its SSU rDNA region allowed obtaining a fragment of 1,796 bp showing 98% homology with M. mercenariae parasite. Phylogenetic analysis supported this identification as this parasite was clustered in the same clade as M. mercenariae from the United States and other M. mercenariae‐like sequences from the UK, with bootstrap value of 99%. The occurrence of M. mercenariae‐like parasites infecting molluscs outside the United States is confirmed.     

Involvement of gonadal steroids in final oocyte maturation of white perch (Morone americana) and white bass (M. chrysops): in vivo and in vitro studies

Plasma estradiol-17 (E₂), testosterone (T), 17,20-dihydroxy-4-pregnen-3-one (DHP) and 17,20,21-tri-hydroxy-4-pregnen-3-one (20-S) levels were measured by radioimmunoassay (RIA) in white perch (Morone americana) and white bass (M. chrysops) that were induced to undergo final oocyte maturation (FOM) with human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). Plasma DHP levels increased in females of both species in association with oocyte germinal vesicle migration (GVM) and germinal vesicle breakdown (GVBD) and decreased thereafter. Plasma 20-S levels also increased with oocyte GVM in white bass, but were several-fold lower than DHP levels. Circulating E₂ and T levels were greatest during GVM and GVBD in both species and decreased to low levels during oocyte hydration and ovulation. Follicles from white perch and white bass which received a priming injection of hCG in vivo, produced both DHP and 20-S in vitro after exposure to hCG and their oocytes underwent GVBD. Ovarian incubates from unprimed fish of either species produced only E₂ and T and their oocytes did not complete GVBD. Oocytes from unprimed bass, but not perch, matured when follicles were exposed to hCG in vitro. Both trilostane and cycloheximide blocked in vitro production of DHP and 20-S and oocyte GVBD by white perch follices. DHP and 20-S were equipotent inducers of FOM in the GVBD bioassay. None of several other structurally-related steroids tested were effective within a physiological range of concentrations. These results indicate a role for DHP and 20-S in the control of FOM in white perch and white bass.