Phenotypic and genetic parameter estimation of juvenile growth and bottom color traits in half-smooth tongue sole,Cynoglossus semilaevis

摘要

Half-smooth tongue sole(Cynoglossus semilaevis) is a commercially important fish species. There were no reports about accurate genetic parameters of growth traits in C. semilaevis, despite efforts aimed at the culture of this species. Therefore, the main goal of this study was to estimate the parameters for the early growth traits(total length, body depth and body weight) of C. semilaevis based on the data obtained from 80 families. The trait of fish with pure white bottom or not(named as the trait of bottom color) was also analyzed. All the heritabilities estimated for the traits were medium, which varied from 0.210 to 0.362. Genetic correlations among growth traits were highly positive, varying from 0.913 to 0.959, indicating that selection of one of the three traits would result in correlated increase in the others. Also, genetic correlations between bottom color and growth traits were positive and varying from 0.241 to 0.353, suggesting that selection for the bottom color can be utilized to enhance the selection of growth traits. In addition, fish from the top performing 16 full-sib families were selected as broodstock, based on the above analysis and the comparison of family breeding value. This research provides an important basic material to implement selective breeding in C. semilaevis.