Heritability of growth in larvae and juveniles of Mytilus edulis

Abstract

Heritabilities are estimated for growth in shell length in larvae and juveniles of Mytilus edulis, based on a nested design, involving 27 families (27 females, 9 males). Very high heritabilities ( h D 2 > 0.6 and h S 2 > 0.5) were found for growth in both larvae and juveniles. The mean improvement in shell length growth by selection is estimated at 24–35% per generation.