Conference presentation
Size does matter! Culturing the giant grouper/Queensland groper
USC Research Conference, 2013 (Sunshine Coast, Australia, 01-Jul-2013–05-Jul-2013)
University of the Sunshine Coast
2013
Abstract
The giant grouper, also known as the iconic Queensland groper, indeed grows to be a giant, and does so very fast. Groupers are a very high value aquaculture species, and have an important niche in the lucrative live fish trade into Hong Kong and China. USC is the lead agency on a large ACIAR funded project aimed at developing a sustainable giant grouper aquaculture in Australia, Vietnam and the Philippines. The project covers aspects concerning reproduction, larval rearing, genetics, surrogate technology and drug delivery. The groupers all develop first as females, and a few years into their life some change sex into males, in response to social cues. For giant groupers this can happen when the fish are close to 100kg, which makes the weighing or the handling of the fish somewhat of a challenge. Therefore one of our research questions is - how early can we change giant grouper females into males? Handling the fish is also a challenge, so spawning induction via implantation of slow release hormone devices, while effective, is logistically complex. Therefore another question we are addressing is - can we develop effective oral delivery system to overcome the need of manual handling? Genetic management is an essential part of any aquaculture operation, and developing tools for efficient management and setting up the basis for a genetic program is another important aspect of the project. Larval rearing is a common bottleneck in aquaculture, as nutritional requirements can be very specific for each species. NFC already established the benefit of copepods for grouper larvae survival and quality. We are using new generation sequencing technologies to determine the differences in the transcriptomes of giant grouper larvae that have been fed copepods vs. those raised on rotifers to elucidate what are the changes induced in the larvae that support better growth and survival.
Details
- Title
- Size does matter! Culturing the giant grouper/Queensland groper
- Authors
- Abigail Elizur (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Science, Health, Education and Engineering
- Conference details
- USC Research Conference, 2013 (Sunshine Coast, Australia, 01-Jul-2013–05-Jul-2013)
- Publisher
- University of the Sunshine Coast
- Date published
- 2013
- Copyright note
- Copyright © 2013 the author.
- Organisation Unit
- University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; Centre for Bioinnovation
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99448826402621
- Output Type
- Conference presentation
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