Special Issue "Aquatic Animals: New Horizons for Blue Growth"

A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Aquatic Animals".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2021.

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Eva Armero
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Agricultural Science and Technology, Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena, 30203 Cartagena, Spain
Interests: genetics; breeding programs; animal welfare; product quality; aquaculture; chicken
Dr. Manuel Manchado
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
IFAPA, Centro El Toruño, Junta de Andalucía, Camino Tiro Pichón, S/N, 11500 El Puerto de Santa María, Spain
Interests: larval rearing, genomics, flatfish, aquaculture, genetics rearing; quantitative genetics; molecular markers

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The current world population of 7.6 billion is expected to approach 10 billion people by 2050. The global level of the prevalence of undernourished people has remained unchanged at a level slightly below 11 percent for several years (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations).

Aquatic animals constitute a substantial contribution to our food supplies. In comparison with terrestrial livestock farming, fish are the most efficient converts of feed to weight (feed conversion ratio) and also have high protein and energy retention and high harvested edible yield. Aquaculture is a young animal production and, accordingly, the potential of biotechnological advances to improve both production and efficiency is very high.

This Special Issue on aquatic animals welcomes research articles in multidisciplinary fields, such as physiology, nutrition, genetics, immunology and diseases, husbandry and management, aquaculture engineering, environment conservation, animal welfare and products.

Dr. Eva Armero
Dr. Manuel Manchado
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • aquaculture
  • fish
  • reproduction
  • nutrition
  • genetics
  • pathology
  • sustainability
  • welfare
  • engeneering

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

Communication
Sex Hormones in Hemolymph of Red King Crabs from the Barents Sea
Animals 2021, 11(7), 2149; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11072149 - 20 Jul 2021
Viewed by 889
Abstract
The presence of vertebrate-related steroid sex hormones has been reported in both freshwater and marine crustaceans. However, despite the commercial importance of king crabs, many aspects of their endocrinology are still unknown. For this reason, we examined hemolymph samples of the red king [...] Read more.
The presence of vertebrate-related steroid sex hormones has been reported in both freshwater and marine crustaceans. However, despite the commercial importance of king crabs, many aspects of their endocrinology are still unknown. For this reason, we examined hemolymph samples of the red king crab Paralithodes camtschaticus from the Barents Sea population for the presence of testosterone and 17β-estradiol using radioimmunoassay. The mean testosterone concentration was 0.46 ± 0.04 (range 0.08–1.39) ng mL–1, whereas the mean 17β-estradiol concentration was 1248.9 ± 91.4 (range 217.7–4100.1) pg mL–1. In general, the levels of 17β-estradiol and testosterone in red king crabs were higher than reported for the hemolymph of amphipods, crabs, and shrimps from warm and temperate waters, probably because the king crabs analyzed were larger and heavier than the other crustaceans. The concentrations of sex steroids did not differ significantly between males and females and between immature and mature red king crabs. Seasonal variations in the level of testosterone with the maximum value in the spawning period (May) indicate a potential role of the sex hormones in the maturation and reproduction processes of red king crab. Taking into account the slow growth rate in P. camtschaticus, our data could be useful not only for further physiological studies but also for the development of reliable techniques for red king crab aquaculture. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Aquatic Animals: New Horizons for Blue Growth)
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Article
Genetic Estimates for Growth and Shape-Related Traits in the Flatfish Senegalese Sole
Animals 2021, 11(5), 1206; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11051206 - 22 Apr 2021
Viewed by 465
Abstract
Shape quality is very important in flatfish aquaculture due to the impact on commercialization. The Senegalese sole (Solea senegalensis) is a valuable flatfish with a highly elliptic body that slightly changes with age and size, and it is prone to accumulating [...] Read more.
Shape quality is very important in flatfish aquaculture due to the impact on commercialization. The Senegalese sole (Solea senegalensis) is a valuable flatfish with a highly elliptic body that slightly changes with age and size, and it is prone to accumulating malformations during the production cycle. The present study aims to investigate the genetic parameters of two growth traits (weight and standard length) and six shape quality predictors (ellipticity, three body heights (body height at the pectoral fin base [BHP], body maximum height [BMH] and caudal peduncle height [CPH]) and two ratios (BMH/BHP and BMH/CPH)). These traits were measured before the on-growing stage (age ~400 days (d)) and at harvest (~800 d). Phenotypic data, heritabilities and genetic and phenotypic correlations between the traits are presented and discussed. High or very high heritabilities (0.433–0.774) were found for growth traits, body heights and ellipticity and they were higher at 400 than 800 d. In contrast, the ratios of BMH/BHP and BMH/CPH were less heritable (0.144–0.306). Positive and very high (>0.95) correlations between growth traits and the three heights were found and decreased with age. In contrast, ellipticity had negative and medium-high genetic correlations with growth traits and heights, indicating fish selected for bigger size would also become rounder. The ratio of BMH/CPH showed low genetic correlations with all traits and provided complementary information to ellipticity for a better fitting to the expected lanceolate body morphology of sole. The genetic correlations for all traits at both ages were very high, indicating that selection before entering the growth-out stage in recirculation aquaculture systems is recommended to accelerate genetic gains. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Aquatic Animals: New Horizons for Blue Growth)
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Article
Growth, Hemato-Biochemical Parameters, Body Composition, and Myostatin Gene Expression of Clarias gariepinus Fed by Replacing Fishmeal with Plant Protein
Animals 2021, 11(3), 889; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11030889 - 20 Mar 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 590
Abstract
In this study, we evaluated the consequences of replacement of fishmeal with plant protein sources (soybean and sunflower meal) on fish growth parameters, haemato-biochemical factors, body composition, and myostatin gene expression of Clarias gariepinus. A total of 150 C. gariepinus were organized [...] Read more.
In this study, we evaluated the consequences of replacement of fishmeal with plant protein sources (soybean and sunflower meal) on fish growth parameters, haemato-biochemical factors, body composition, and myostatin gene expression of Clarias gariepinus. A total of 150 C. gariepinus were organized in glass aquaria into five investigational groups, with each group in triplicate (30 fish/group; 10 fish/replicate). Group 1 was fed a control diet (15% fishmeal). The other groups were fed diets where fishmeal was replaced gradually with plant protein, with 10% fishmeal in the second group (D1), 7.5% fishmeal in the third group (D2), 5% fishmeal in the fourth group (D3), and 0% fishmeal in the fifth group (D4). There were no significant differences regarding growth performances and body composition among the groups, except that the feed conversion ratio was improved in D4. The different diet types did not affect hematologic parameters and blood indices. Serum growth hormone and amylase levels also revealed no significant (p = 0.09 and 0.55, respectively) differences among the groups, while serum lipase levels decreased significantly (p = 0.000) due to partial (D2) or complete (D4) substitution of fishmeal with plant protein. The replacement of fishmeal had no effects on liver (p = 0.51) and kidney functions (p = 0.34). However, D4 showed the best profit and economic efficiency compared to the other groups. Altogether, we concluded that substitution of fishmeal with plant protein sources is economically beneficial and may be without any adverse effects on growth parameters, body composition, or hematologic and biochemical parameters, but with the addition of synthetic amino acids. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Aquatic Animals: New Horizons for Blue Growth)
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