Journal of Aquaculture Research & Development

Heritability estimates for growth-related traits using microsatellite parentage assignment in juvenile Florida bass

8^th International Conference on Fisheries & Aquaculture

October 02-04, 2017 Toronto, Canada

Joshua C Sakmar and Richard B Stout

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, USA

Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Aquac Res Development

Abstract:

We used microsatellite parentage analysis to reconstruct familial relationships of juvenile Florida bass (Micropterus floridanus) displaying variable traits of growth in a culture setting. Some study populations of age-0 juveniles (N=34,003) was segregated into two groups per size and randomly sampled; baseline growth group (BGA; N=250) and high growth group (HGA; N=250). Ten microsatellite loci were used for assignment of offspring to 119 potential wild-type brooders (sires N=47, dams N=72). Parentage was successfully assigned at a rate of 78%. Offspring of the BGA group showed broader parental contribution (44 unique parents; 31 pairings) than offspring of the HGA group (25 unique parents; 14 pairings). There was a significant difference of the top three parentpairs per contribution rank between groups (BGA=48%; HGA=90%). This was due to a majority of the HGA group (83%) being represented by a single-pair (P22/P25). The pair showed a significantly reduced contribution to the BGA group (7%). Animal model heritability estimates of the BGA group were 0.59±0.17 for length (mm), 0.60±0.17 for weight (g) and 0.39±0.15 for Fultonâ??s condition factor (K). It is concluded that traits of growth may be heritable and predicted by familial relationship within cultured populations of Florida Bass. While this study suggests a genetic component to growth in wild populations, the fact that heritability was estimated on juvenile fish in an aquaculture setting requires further investigations be conducted on wild adult populations.