Estimates of Heritability of Larval and Early Juvenile Growth Traits in Red Drum (Sciaenops ocellatus)

ABSTRACT

Eighteen to 29 families of red drum were generated via spontaneous spawning of multiple sets of three dams × two sires. In 2002, offspring from spawning events were grown in separate larval ponds to a mean TL of 30.4 mm. In 2003, offspring from spawning events were individually passive integrated transponder (PIT)-tagged and grown in “common-garden” tanks from 121.9 to 166.6 mm. Offspring in both experiments were assigned to parents based on genotypes at four microsatellite loci. Heritability estimates were 0.24 ± 0.06 (larval TL) and 0.48 ± 0.16 (juvenile-specific growth rate in length) and indicate a significant genetic component for both traits.

KEYWORDS:

• Heritability
• growth rate
• red drum
• microsatellites

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We gratefully acknowledge the help and assistance provided by personnel, in particular R. Vega, P. Silva, and R. Chavez, of the TPWD CCA/CPL Marine Development Center in Flour Bluff, Texas. We also thank C. Bradfield and M. Renshaw for help in the laboratory, K. Clark and S. O'Daniel for help in field experiments, and J. Goff and P. Li for help at the Aquaculture Research and Teaching Facility. Work was supported by the Texas Sea Grant College Program (Award NA16RG1078), the Coastal Fisheries Division of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station (Project H-6703). This article is number 62 in the series “Genetics Studies in Marine Fishes” and Contribution No. 157 of the Center for Biosystematics and Biodiversity at Texas A&M University.