Production of female triploid coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) by pressure shock and direct estrogen treatment

Abstract

The aquaculture production of all-female triploid (sterile) populations is recognized as being of potential advantage for many species of fish where sexual maturation is not desired. All-female triploids have been produced by inducing triploidy in eggs that had been fertilized with monosex female sperm. However, monosex stocks to produce this type of sperm are currently available only for a limited number of economically important species. To circumvent this problem, an alternative method would be the direct fertilization of tripoid embryos. In Pacific salmon, pressure shocks applied shortly after fertilization have consistently resulted in high yields of tripoids, and feminization by direct estrogen treatment has also been shown to be highly effective if applied shortly after hatching. In this study, coho salmon eggs were made triploid by a pressure shock of 633 kg/cm² for 4 min, applied 20 min after fertilization and incubation at 10 °C. Some of the resulting embryos were then feminized with estradiol-17β in single 2-hour immersion treatments at 400 μg/liter, administered 1 and 8 days after hatching. Six months later, when the fish were juveniles, analysis of the DNA content of erythrocytes by flow cytometry revealed a 100% induction of triploidy, while histological examination of the gonads showed 82% females, which were completely devoid of oocyte development and thus genetically sterile. These manipulations reduced survival during early stages of development but survival became stable later. Together, these results suggest that the production of sterile fish by direct feminization of induced triploids could be of particular advantage for those species in which all-female stocks are yet not available or difficult to obtain.