Analysis of combining ability and heterosis on body mass trait of three Penaeus monodon populations

In this study, we bred nine inbred populations  and hybridized F₁ population for Penaeus monodon "Nanhai No.1" population (S), African breeding strain population (A) and Thailand population (T) by complete diallel cross, and then evaluated the general combining ability (GCA) and specific combining ability (SCA) in harvest body mass with mixed and generalized linear models. The GCA of "Nanhai No.1" was the highest, followed by the African breeding strain, and that of Thailand population was the lowest, with the effect values of 0.437 3, −0.062 4 and −0.3749, respectively. The effect values of SCA for six mating combinations was −0.779 8−0.613, and the SCA of AS group was the highest (0.613). Heterosis analysis shows that the range of mid-parent heterosis and over-high parent heterosis for six F₁ populations were 8.41%−13.80% and 2.66%−7.97%, respectively. The results show that the SCA and heterosis of AS group were the best. Therefore, it is suggested to strengthen the selection and breeding in body mass for this group.