Abstract
Simple SummaryGilthead seabream (GSB) broodstock were genetically selected based on their growth trait either high growth (HG) or low growth (LG) to evaluate the reproductive performance of these both traits under either fish oil (FO) or vegetable oil (VO) based diets feeding regime. The egg and larval quality were significantly improved by the broodstock selected for HG trait fed under FO based diet. This indicates that broodstock selected with HG trait has positive influence on the improving sperm, egg and larval quality in gilthead seabream.Genetic selection in gilthead seabream (GSB), Sparus aurata, has been undertaken to improve the growth, feed efficiency, fillet quality, skeletal deformities and disease resistance, but no study is available to delineate the effect of genetic selection for growth trait on GSB reproductive performance under mass spawning condition. In this study, high growth (HG) or low growth (LG) GSB broodstock were selected to evaluate the sex steroid hormones, sperm, egg quality and reproductive performance under different feeding regime of commercial diet or experimental broodstock diet containing either fish oil (FO) or vegetable oil (VO) based diet. Under commercial diet feeding phase, broodstock selected for either high growth or low growth did not show any significant changes in the egg production per kg female whereas egg viability percentage was positively (p = 0.014) improved by the high growth trait broodstock group. The experimental diet feeding results revealed that both growth trait and dietary fatty acid composition influenced the reproductive performance of GSB broodstock. In the experimental diet feeding phase, we observed high growth trait GSB males produced a higher number of sperm cells (p < 0.001) and also showed a higher sperm motility (p = 0.048) percentage. The viable egg and larval production per spawn per kg female were significantly improved by the broodstock selected for high growth trait and fed with fish oil-based diet. This present study results signifies that gilthead seabream broodstock selected on growth trait could have positive role in improvement of sperm and egg quality to produce viable progeny.
Highlights
As one of the major species under aquaculture in the Mediterranean region, the gilthead seabream (GSB) (Sparus aurata) is subject to selective breeding programmes [1,2].Selective breeding can be practiced following different methods, from the simplest mass selection to index selection and marker-assisted selection for production of offspring with desired traits
Broodstock selection in fish has been based on somatic growth [5], feed efficiency [6], disease resistance [7], deformities [8,9], fillet yield [10,11,12] or fillet fatty acid composition [13,14]
We found that sperm cell concentration of seabream broodstock was significantly higher in the higher growth/bigger sized than in the lower growth/smaller sized broodstock
Summary
As one of the major species under aquaculture in the Mediterranean region, the gilthead seabream (GSB) (Sparus aurata) is subject to selective breeding programmes [1,2].Selective breeding can be practiced following different methods, from the simplest mass selection to index selection and marker-assisted selection for production of offspring with desired traits. As one of the major species under aquaculture in the Mediterranean region, the gilthead seabream (GSB) (Sparus aurata) is subject to selective breeding programmes [1,2]. Conventional mass spawning has certain limitations for selection programs, since it may not be possible to identify the individual offspring’s parents. To overcome this issue, microsatellite markers are used as a powerful tool to reconstruct the genealogy among offspring and breeders [4]. Selective breeding programs in gilthead seabream have addressed improved growth performance, disease resistance and carcass quality [15]. Assessment of parental contributions in fast- and slow-growing progenies of gilthead seabream has been assessed using a multiplex PCR [16]
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