Research Article
Xinxiu Yu, Tormod Ådn&os
Abstract
Heritabilities, as well as genetic and phenotypic correlations, were estimated for body weights (BW), body lengths (BL) and body heights (BH) in large yellow croaker, Larimichthys crocea. By crossing the Mindong and Daiqu strain, 60 fullsib families (offspring of 32 males and 60 females) were generated and reared separately. Environmental conditions of each family were standardised, and the body traits were recorded at six months of age. Heritabilities for the body traits were medium to high: 0.31 ± 0.06 for BW, 0.33 ± 0.06 for BL and 0.41 ± 0.07 for BH. The correlations among the three growth traits were positive and high in all cases, with the phenotypic correlations ranging from 0.84 to 0.91 and the genetic correlations ranging from 0.74 to 0.95. The results indicate that the growth traits of juvenile large yellow croaker could be improved efficiently by selection in a future breeding program.