Project Details
Projekt
Influence of off-season reproduction on gamete and offspring quality in pike-perch (Sander lucioperca)
Subject Area
Animal Breeding, Animal Nutrition, Animal Husbandry
Term
from 2013 to 2016
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 233997717
Pike-perch (Sander lucioperca) is about to become one of the main target species for German inland aquaculture production. Culturing this species in closed recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS), providing constant environmental conditions and minimal water exchange rates, has a great potential. The year-round availability of settling material for these RAS is still a limiting factor, which can be overcome by the off-season reproduction of this species. In a previously DFG-funded project, we investigated the influence of exogenous factors on the endocrine regulation of gonad maturation in pike-perch and established a protocol for the successful photothermal induction of gonad maturation. This protocol is currently applied in industrial scale.In this knowledge transfer project we will investigate the effects of photothermal induction on relevant quality parameters of gametes and early life stages of pike-perch. The selection of biochemical, enzymatic and molecular markers as well as the choice of growth and condition proxies will enable us to partition the influential effects of parental characteristics on egg, sperm and larval quality. We will compare groups of photothermal induced spawners with other groups of different degrees of domestication, degrees of pre-ovulation, and parental effects (size-specific maternal effects, mating schemes and spawning experience). Egg composition, sperm motility and fertilization rates will enable us to draw conclusions on additive and non-additive genetic effects. Same will hold true for growth and challenging experiments that will be conducted with larvae and juveniles. This combination of a multifactorial experimental design, including the various analytical methods on a full range from the parental generation, via the gametes down to the early life stages, is an innovative approach to improve our understanding on pike-perch and other fish species reproduction physiology.The aim of our work is to parameterize fundamental quality characteristics for the gametes and the early life stages of this species with state-of-the-art methodology and to quantify the mutual contribution of parental effects. An informed decision on the right choice of scientifically sound and robust quality metrics, respecting the influential effects from the parental generation and enabling the determination of adequate spawning broodstock individuals, will be useful for all broodstock management plans. Future achievements, e.g. in breeding this species, will be quantified based on this standardized set of methods outlined in this project.
DFG Programme
Research Grants (Transfer Project)
Participating Institution
Aquapri Denmark A/S
