Estimation of the mode of inheritance of thermal tolerance in the guppy Poecilia reticulata

High water temperature influences the survival, growth, and maturation of fish. Genetically characterizing thermal tolerance is one of the most important subjects in fish culture. To identify the genetic characterization of thermal tolerance, this characteristic was compared among strains, and among parents and their offspring, in the guppy Poecilia reticulata. In the strain comparison, significant differences in survival rate were observed among the five strains examined, and between females and males. Females exhibited greater tolerance than males in four of five strains examined. In the comparison between parents and their offspring, stronger influence of female parent than of male parent was observed. Offspring obtained from surviving females exhibited greater tolerance than those from dead females. This tendency was typically observed in male offspring. The survival rate in male offspring obtained from dead female parents was lower than that of those from surviving females. The high-temperature tolerance of male parents did not influence this characteristic in offspring as strongly as that of female parents. These results suggest that the major gene or genes, which has a dominant resistant allele and a recessive sensitive allele, are probably passed on by sex-linked inheritance, located on the X chromosome.