Estimation of Genetic Parameters and Optimum Breeding Programme Design in Korean Flatfish Breeding Population

• Published in: Fishes Vol. 7; no. 6; p. 357
• Main Authors: Dinh, Phuong Thanh N, Park, Jong-Won, Ekanayake, Waruni, Kim, Yeongkuk, Lee, Dooho, Lee, Dain, Jung, Hyo Sun, Kim, Julan, Yang, Hye-Rim, Lee, Heegun, Yoon, Sangwon, Lee, Jeong-Ho, Lee, Seung Hwan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01-11-2022
• Subjects: Animal breeding; Animal models; Aquaculture; Body weight; Breeding; breeding programme; Condition factor; Fish; Flatfishes; Flounder; full-sib family size; Genetic aspects; Genetic diversity; genetic parameters; Growth; Heritability; Marine fishes; Methods; Offspring; olive flounder; Paralichthys olivaceus; Parameters; Paternity; Physiological aspects; Polyculture (aquaculture); Productivity; Progeny; Quantitative genetics; Statistical analysis; Statistical methods; Water temperature; South Korea
• ISSN: 2410-3888; 2410-3888
• DOI: 10.3390/fishes7060357

Olive flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus) is a vital aquaculture species in East Asia. However, few studies that estimate the genetic parameters of this species have been conducted. We estimated the genetic parameters of growth traits and designed an optimum breeding programme for this species. Heritability, genetic and phenotypic correlations, and breeding values were estimated for growth traits: body weight (BW), total length (TL), and condition factor (CF). A linear mixed animal model using the restricted maximum likelihood (REML) algorithm was applied to the statistical analysis of 9 traits (BW, TL, and CF at 11, 18, and 22 months of age) for a total of 54,159 animals from 7 generations. Increases of 13%, 8%, and 6.5% in BW, TL, and CF at the harvest stage were observed, respectively, after 7 generations of selection. The heritabilities of all growth traits were moderate, ranging from 0.35 to 0.46. The phenotypic and genetic correlations between BW and TL were high and positive in all three stages (0.91 and 0.92, 0.91 and 0.93, and 0.88 and 0.91). The estimated breeding values of BW and TL increased over the generations; however, the estimated breeding value of CF fluctuated. The optimum progeny number within full-sib families for an accuracy of 0.632 is suggested to be between 10 and 25. Findings indicated that a considerable response to selection and single-trait selection based on BW would be effective in olive flounder.