Philippines: Scientists at the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Centre (SEAFDEC) Aquaculture Department have come up with new hybrid technology for abalone farming and produced two "presumptive" hybrids.
These hybrids are able to grow faster than even the conventional donkey's ear (Haliotis asinina), which is already one of the fastest-growing farmed abalone varieties. Donkey's ear grows quickly, reaching a marketable size of five-centimetre shell length in six months from an initial size of 2.6-3 centimetres. The scientists have also reportedly managed to improve the taste of the fish.
"The idea is to primarily improve the taste of the donkey's ear abalone, as anecdotal reports mostly from fishermen and gatherers indicate that the smaller species of abalone native to Philippine waters have sweeter meat and is more crispy," said Mila de la Peña, programme leader of SEAFDEC's Integrated Mollusc Programme, Malaya reports.
The team employed conventional breeding techniques to cross the H. asinina female abalone with the H. glabra male and ended up with a hybrid they are calling HAFGM. The second hybrid is H. asinina female crossed with the H. planata male, or HAFPM.
"We have produced presumptive hybrids, meaning they are presumed to be hybrids until they are confirmed to be real hybrids through genetic analysis," explained de la Peña. "It will be confirmed by the Centro de Biotecnologia, Universidad de Concepcion, in Chile, hopefully this year."
The team is comparing the growth rate and taste of the hybrids and verifying their performance in nature.
"The result of cross-breeding will be tested in both land- and sea-based grow-out culture," she said.
Thus far, the HAFGM hybrid has grown at a rate 10-20 percent faster than the pure donkey's ear abalone, while the HAFPM takes longer. De la Peña's research is now using biotechnology to boost abalone growth.
SEAFDEC's Dr Myrna B Teruel is also creating and testing a more nutritious microparticulate diet which can partially or fully replace the typical diatoms, or golden-brown microscopic algae used for growing post-larval abalone. Feeding this artificial microdiet could result in higher settlement and survival rates of the post-larval abalone and solve the problems of high mortality in hatchery production.
FIS