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Maternal Effects On Egg Quality In Hatchery, Wild, And Farmed Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus Tshawytscha), Michaela Whitney Haring

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Maternal effects have received considerable attention within the literature, however our knowledge on environmental and genetic maternal effects on egg quality in fish still remains limited. I examined both environmental and genetic maternal effects on egg quality traits in hatchery, wild and farmed Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha). I found that environmental differences during early life altered certain aspects of the reproductive biology in hatchery- and wild- salmon, namely gonad and egg development, while other important components of egg quality, fatty acid profile, were not affected. By using quantitative genetic models and breeding designs, I determined that egg size was strongly …