F10 pandalid shrimp: Sex determination; DNA and dopamine as indicators of domestication; and outcrossing for wild pigment pattern

Abstract

AbstractDomestication becomes significant in captive propagation of high‐fecundity animals which sustain significant mortality rates. The domestication process typical of higher vertebrates has been observed in the coonstripe shrimp, Pandalus danae, which were reared through 10 generations for study of protandric hermaphroditism. The research protocol of repeated handling, for determining sex and carapace length, rendered escape responses maladaptive. Domesticated, F10 shrimp showed significantly greater band‐sharing in genomic DNA than wild shrimp, and the domesticated shrimp had only 5.5% of the dopamine levels in haemolymph found in wild shrimp. For both parameters, outcrossed shrimp (wild X domestic) had intermediate values. The outcrossed shrimp looked entirely wild, yet had behavioral and metabolic attributes of domestic shrimp. For such nonendangered species, domestication may be as desirable as it is unavoidable. It appears necessary, however, to perform outcrossing in order to maintain the wild form. © 1993 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.