Growth performance of all-female and mixed-sex common carp Cyprinus Carpio L. populations in the central Europe climatic conditions

Abstract

The results of a 4-yr study focused on comparing growth performance in all-female and mixed-sex populations of common carp are presented. All-female and mixed-sex populations of purebred Northern mirror carp (M72) and scaly crossbreds of female Ropsha (ROP) and male/neomale M72 carp (ROP × M72) were used for this experiment. Average weight and survival after each growing season and slaughtering value after the third and fourth year of the study were measured. While after 8 wk of rearing no differences between all-female and mixed-sex populations were found, the 1-yr-old all-female mirror carp population (M72) gained 29.7% more weight (P <0.0001) than the mixed-sex (68.5 ± 15.8 g against 52.8 ± 13.9 g; mean ± S.D.) population. After the second, third and fourth year of rearing, live weight was 9.5% (P = 0.0062) and 6.8% (P = 0.0229) and insignificantly 5.1% higher, respectively, in the all-female population. There was no significant difference, even after the fourth growing season, in live weight between all-females and bisexual scaly crossbreds (2,192 g ± 478.3 and 2,206 g ± 484.5, respectively). The percentage of the main edible parts (processed body, filleting yield) was significantly higher in both mirror and scaly, all-female populations at 3 yr of age but not significantly different in 4-yr-old fish. No distinct differences in survival and body shape of all-female and bisexual populations were found. The potential of all-female populations for commercial production is discussed. © Copyright by the World Aquaculture Society 2005.