Juvenile growth performance among stocks and families of red claw crayfish, Cherax quadricarinatus (von Martens)

Abstract

A laboratory comparison of the growth performance of juvenile red claw crayfish ( Cherax quadricarinatus) was conducted in relation to stock and family. For stock comparison, body weight at ages during the first 84 days after release was measured for juveniles of the first generation derived from three river systems in northern Queensland, Australia: Weipa, Gilbert and Mitchell. Although the body weight of newly released juveniles was similar for the three stocks, a significant difference among stocks in body weight was shown at all post-release ages measured except at 28 days. Furthermore, the stock component of growth performance variation increased with age. On the other hand, the family component of growth variation decreased with age within all three stocks. A further study of the second generation progeny of the Gilbert River stock further demonstrated a substantial genetic component of growth performance variation in this species. Heritability estimates, based on full-sib intraclass correlations, were 0.72 ± 0.14 at 30 days, 0.48 ± 0.10 at 60 days and 0.32 ± 0.31 at 90 days after release.