Estimation of genetic parameters for growth and egg related traits in Russian sturgeon (Acipenser gueldenstaedtii)

Abstract Russian sturgeon (Acipenser gueldenstaedtii) is one of the species of sturgeon, which has high economic value as its source of caviar. The aim of this study was to estimate genetic parameters of growth and egg related traits in Russian sturgeon. The heritability, genetic and phenotypic correlations and breeding values were estimated for body weight (BW), egg maturation (EM) and egg color (EC). In total, 3385 fish from 26 full-sib families (26 sires and 6 dams) were used for genetic analyses based on animal model (AM), sire model (SM) and sire-dam model (SDM). The results shown that the estimated heritability of BW ranged from 0.18 to 0.21 and the estimated heritability ranged from 0.32 to 0.54 and 0.33 to 0.59 for EM and EC based on three models, respectively. The Pearson and Spearman correlation coefficients among family estimated breeding value (EBV) were high (correlation coefficients ≥0.800), indicating that the predictive ability of different models for family EBVs was consistent. However, AM had a superior ability to predict EBV and SM was the best model for sire selection. The genetic and phenotypic correlations between growth and egg related traits were low, indicating that growth trait and egg related traits were relatively independent traits that could be improved respectively. Our results represent the first report of genetic parameters for growth and egg related traits in Russian sturgeon and indicate that these traits might be improved through selection breeding.