Response to Selection and Realized Heritability for Length in Golden Shiner, Notemigonus crysoleucas

Abstract

One generation of individual selection for increased total length in golden shiner, Notemigonus crysoleucas, at the 30th percentile (i = 1.159) increased average length from 109.4 mm in the F₁ control generation to 119.2 mm in the F₁ select generation; the difference was significant (P = 0.1). When means were adjusted by covariance analysis for number of fish at harvest, mean lengths were 111.0 mm for the F_l control generation and 116.9 mm for the F₁ select generation; the difference was not significant. Unadjusted and adjusted genetic gain was 10 mm (9.1%/generation) and 5.9 mm (5.3%/generation), respectively. Realized heritability using unadjusted and adjusted lengths was 0.70 and 0.42, respectively. These results suggest that selection can be used to improve growth rate and yield in golden shiner.