LAUSR

Genetic evaluation of feed efficiency for Fenneropenaeus chinensis was implemented in the breeding population of “Huanghai No. 2” using phenotypic, pedigree and genomic information via a single-step genomic best linear unbiased prediction method (ssGBLUP). Feed efficiency ratio (FER) and average daily gain (ADG) were recorded individually during the grow-out period in 51 full-sib families from the breeding population. High level of inter-individual variation (0.055–0.593) existed in FER. Marginal means of families for FER (0.115–0.388) displayed large inter-family variation. A total of 123 individuals in the pedigree were genotyped with 14,165 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers, which were used to construct a genomic relationship matrix. Heritability estimate of FER based on pedigree and genomic information reached a moderate level (0.259 ± 0.101), which was not significantly different from that based on only pedigree (P > 0.05). FER exhibited strong and positive genetic and phenotypic correlations (> 0.80) with ADG. ssGBLUP and the pedigree-based method were found to be consistent in predicting breeding values. No clear differences in accuracy were observed between the two methods through cross-validation. Although the heritability estimate of FER highlights the potential to implement breeding programs for feed efficiency in Huanghai No. 2, indirect selection for FER through increased growth may be a better choice considering the difficulty of measuring individual FER in shrimps.