Genetic parameters for growth and survival in Penaeus monodon cultured in India

Genetic parameters were estimated for growth and pond survival of Penaeus monodon using full-sib families from wild brood females collected from Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh of the Indian coastline. The post larvae were reared, tagged, and thereafter communal-reared in two ponds. There was a moderate phenotypic correlation between stocking weight and harvest weight (0.39). A linear mixed model, when fitted to the harvest weight, revealed significant sex and pond effects and a heritability estimate of 0.27 ± 0.07. This estimate is likely to over-estimate the true heritability, as full-sib families were initially reared in separate tanks, although tagging weight was fitted as a covariate in an attempt to remove this effect. Correlation of family breeding values for harvest weight between the two ponds suggested little genotype × environment interaction. Heritability of pond survival was 0.21 ± 0.06, with unusually low levels of survival in the experiment, likely contributing to the high level of genetic variance observed. The correlation between family breeding values for harvest weight and pond survival was low (0.05) and not significantly different from zero. However, the correlation was not antagonistic, suggesting that P. monodon broodstock with high breeding values for both traits could be selected.