Developmental stability, heterozygosity, and genetic analysis of morphological variation in pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha)

Abstract

Heterozygosity of 26 pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) families was compared with family survival rates up to 410 d after fry emergence and also with asymmetry of pectoral and pelvic fin ray numbers. There was no significant association between heterozygosity calculated at six electrophoretic loci and either survival rate or asymmetry in fin ray number at any time during the 410-d rearing period. More heterozygous families did not have higher survival rates than less heterozygous families, and they did not have less asymmetry in the fin ray characters. Heritabilities of 11 morphometric characters were, on average, lower than the heritabilities of the 2 meristic characters examined. There is no evidence yet to indicate that increased heterozygosity results in increased canalization of morphology in pink salmon.