Genetic and environmental variances on growth and reproductive traits of silver crucian carp Carassius langsdorfii using communal and separate rearing systems

Abstract

Five clonal lines of silver crucian carp Carassius langsdorfii were produced from natural maternal fish to estimate the variance and heritability of total length, bodyweight and gonadosomatic index (GSI). The larvae on the 10th day after hatching were reared together in a common rearing system with five duplicate systems. Another system was prepared using a separate system with two replications in each family. Estimation of variance and heritability were done in the first, third, fifth and 10th month for total length and bodyweight. Microsatellite DNA markers were used to identify the clonal lines in each communal rearing tank. Average heritabilities in the first month were 0.105 for total length (ranging from 0.21 to 0.03) and 0.127 for bodyweight (ranging from 0.22 to 0.06) then decreased in the third, fifth and 10th month. In contrast, intermediate levels of heritability from separate systems were observed. Likewise, relative heritability of GSI in the 10th month presented a high level in both rearing systems. Those heritabilities indicated that growth, total length, bodyweight and reproductive performances of silver crucian carp were affected by genetic influence. The results suggest that clonal lines of silver crucian carp are suitable as experimental animals for evaluations of environmental change and various pollutants through quantitative traits such as growth, reproductive and other physiological traits.