Evaluating spawning performance among captive Florida pompano Trachinotus carolinus broodstock using microsatellite-based parentage assignment

Abstract

Florida pompano has been identified as a promising candidate for commercial‐scale aquaculture production, but to date, little information is available regarding captive broodstock spawning characteristics. Genetic markers were tested for their power in monitoring mating outcomes and potential in analysing heritability of rapid growth trait in Trachinotus carolinus. A total of 20 unrelated adults (10 females and 10 males) were chosen for a hormone‐induced mass spawning event. The 515 fastest growing and 485 slowest growing fish of the total 4852 offspring were considered a selected progeny stock, and fish were collected at 45 days post hatch based on their growth traits. Parentage analyses based on the 20 breeders and 1,000 selected progeny were performed using a total of nine microsatellite markers, a 100% assignment rate was achieved, and a four‐marker set was the minimum number for the parentage assignment. The effective breeding number for the selected progeny was 11 (six females and five males), among which three females and two males were predominant contributors with the total contribution of 95.8% and 94.7% respectively. The proportion of fast‐growing offspring from broodfish and each mating cross (sire/dam) was used for detecting whether variation in growth of the offspring was related to parental stocks. Results showed that three adults and their mated combination exhibited the greatest fast‐growing offspring proportion (69.73% and 55.95%). This research provided new information regarding spawning performance and parental contribution during mass spawning events; both important first steps towards developing improved management strategies for captive Florida pompano broodstock.

The status of Florida pompano, Trachinotus carolinus, as a commercially ready species for U.S. marine aquaculture

“…In another recent study conducted at MOTE, Ma et al (2017) evaluated the spawning performance of captive pompano broodstock using microsatellite-based DNA profiling in an effort to determine parentage assignment of offspring. The authors recommended employment of a genetically rigorous breeding plan, with optimal numbers of dams and sires (e.g., one or two females to three males), in order to ensure genetic diversity of offspring.…”

“…Pompano also exhibit a wide size variation among cohorts, with slower growing fish depressing overall FE, suggesting a genetic component that could be potentially be addressed through a selective breeding program. Recent evidence suggests this is a much needed and viable approach (Ma et al, 2017).…”

Dynamic epimarks in sex-related genes predict gonad phenotype in the European sea bass, a fish with mixed genetic and environmental sex determination

“…In total we had 790 European sea bass sampled at~11 months available for genotyping and sex ratio analysis. Genotyping unambiguously assigned 764 fish to the parents but showed that most (99%) offspring came from dam b, meaning that the rate of fertilization of the eggs of dam a was low, that the viability of the offspring of dam a was low, or both, something that is frequent in fish [45][46][47][48][49][50][51]. Thus, the few offspring of dam a were no longer considered and we only report results related to the four families derived from dam b.…”

Selection of Fast Growth and Disease Resistance Traits in Brood Stock Candidates of Silver Pompano (Trachinotus Blochii)

“…Good quality seeds are only produced from good quality broodstock and using good fish hatchery methods. The provision of superior silver pompano parents in supporting the sustainability of seed production activities is needed, one of which is by selecting superior traits from prospective fish parents (Ma, et al, 2017). The genetic quality of a group determines the phenotypic appearance of the group.…”