Comparisons of reproductive function and fatty acid fillet quality between triploid and diploid farm Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar)

24Citations
Citations of this article
64Readers
Mendeley users who have this article in their library.

This article is free to access.

Abstract

Triploidy could prevent escaped farm salmon breeding in the wild, while also improving nutrient quality within farmed fillets. Despite these potential advantages, triploid Atlantic salmon have not been widely used in aquaculture, and their reproductive function has yet to be fully evaluated. Here, we compare reproductive function and fillet composition between triploid and diploid farm salmon under standard aquaculture rearing conditions. We show that female triploids are sterile and do not develop gonads. By contrast, males produce large numbers of motile spermatozoa capable of fertilizing wild salmon eggs. However, compared with diploids, reproductive development and survival rates of eggs fertilized by triploid males were significantly reduced, with less than 1% of eggs sired by triploid males reaching late-eyed stages of development. Analyses of fillets showed that total lipid and fatty acid quantities were significantly lower in triploid than in diploid Atlantic salmon fillets. However, when fatty acids were normalized to total lipid content, triploid fillets had significantly higher relative levels of important omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids. Our results show that: (i) escaped triploid farm salmon are very unlikely to reproduce in the wild and (ii) if able to match diploid fillet lipid content, triploid farm salmon could achieve better fillet quality in terms of essential fatty acids.

Cite

CITATION STYLE

APA

Murray, D. S., Kainz, M. J., Hebberecht, L., Sales, K. R., Hindar, K., & Gage, M. J. G. (2018). Comparisons of reproductive function and fatty acid fillet quality between triploid and diploid farm Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). Royal Society Open Science, 5(8). https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.180493

Register to see more suggestions

Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.

Already have an account?

Save time finding and organizing research with Mendeley

Sign up for free