International Journal of Marine Science, 2025, Vol.15, No.5, 277-286 http://www.aquapublisher.com/index.php/ijms 277 CaseStudy Open Access Genetic Variation in Growth Traits of Scomberomorus spp. Under Selective Breeding: A Case Study in Hainan Waters Haimei Wang, Liting Wang Hainan Institute of Biotechnology, Haikou, 570206, Hainan, China Corresponding author: liting.wang@hibio.org International Journal of Marine Science, 2025, Vol.15, No.5, doi: 10.5376/ijms.2025.15.0025 Received: 20 Aug., 2025 Accepted: 12 Oct., 2025 Published: 25 Oct., 2025 Copyright © 2025 Wang and Wang, This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Preferred citation for this article: Wang H.M., and Wang L.T., 2025, Genetic variation in growth traits of Scomberomorus spp. under selective breeding: a case study in hainan waters, International Journal of Marine Science, 15(5): 277-286 (doi: 10.5376/ijms.2025.15.0025) Abstract Scomberomorus spp. is one of the important economic fishes in China's offshore fisheries and aquaculture industries, but its wild population resources are under pressure from overfishing and environmental changes. Improve the growth performance of mackerels through selective breeding is expected to improve breeding efficiency and alleviate their dependence on wild resources. This study takes mackerel in Hainan as an example to analyze the genetic variation characteristics of growth traits (including body length, weight and growth rate) and the selection of breeding effects. The results show that the main growth trait of mackerel has a moderate level of heritability, and the selected breeding population exhibits faster growth rates and higher weight genetic gain relative to the natural population. At the same time, the genetic gain of different breeding generations shows a decreasing trend, showing that the impact of continuous selection on genetic variation needs attention. Case studies show that selective breeding strategies based on genetic parameter evaluation can effectively improve the growth traits of mackerels and provide practical basis for regional seawater fish breeding. This study provides scientific reference for the cultivation of mackerel species and the sustainable use of marine fishery resources in Hainan and other regions. Keywords Mackerel; Breeding selection; Growth traits; Genetic variation; Hainan 1 Introduction Mackerel belongs to the genus Mackerel of the Mackerel family, including blue-spot mackerel, spot mackerel, Kang's mackerel and other offshore species. Mackerel has delicious meat and rich nutrition. It is an important economic fish in coastal fisheries and is distributed in the Bohai Sea, Yellow Sea, East China Sea and South China Sea. Among them, Hainan waters are rich in Kang's mackerel and spot mackerel. Local consumption demand is strong, and mackerel has become one of the famous dishes on the Hainan fishermen's festival table. However, in recent decades, wild mackerel resources have been affected by overfishing and environmental pollution, and the population and individual size in some sea areas have decreased significantly. Historical data show that the average body length of mackerels in the northern seas was as high as 630 mm, but has dropped to about 532 mm in recent years. Resource decline has prompted China to list mackerels as a key target for proliferation, release and artificial breeding, and to carry out seedling release in the Bohai Sea, the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea to restore populations (Wen et al., 2018). But at the same time, China's mackerel breeding work started late, and there are still challenges such as poor growth performance, low survival rate of seedlings, and degeneration of strains. Degradation of aquatic germplasm and poor disease resistance not only limit the increase in breeding output, but also increases breeding risks. This study takes mackerel populations in Hainan sea as the object, and evaluates the heritability and selection response of growth traits through genetic parameter analysis, and explores the impact of targeted breeding on genetic variation of mackerel populations. The research results will provide a scientific basis for the selection and breeding of regional mackerels, and also provide reference for the genetic improvement and sustainable resource utilization of other seawater fish in China.
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