, Lyda B. Balagtey1, Milagros M. Apaga1, Jesusa Q. Undan1, Jhonny L. Munar1, Eric J. Morales1, Archebald N. Valiente1, Roniño C. Del Pilar1, Ma. Jodecel C. Danting1,
National Fisheries Research and Development Institute-Fisheries Biotechnology Center, CLSU Compound, Science City of Muñoz 3120, Nueva Ecija, Philippines
Corresponding author
cchorescajr@gmail.com
This study evaluated the salinity tolerance of juvenile reciprocal hybrids of saline-tolerant tilapia strain in terms of salinity indices: Median Lethal Salinity (MLS), Mean Salinity Tolerance (MST), and Optimum Salinity Tolerance (OST). After the 25-day challenge of progressive salinity increase by 3 ppt, it was observed that the progenies of the two reciprocal crosses of iBEST showed no significant differences in terms of MLS (iBEST Hybrid 1=62.67±3.21 ppt; iBEST Hybrid 2=54.00±5.29 ppt), MST (iBEST Hybrid 1=54.33±3.06 ppt; iBEST Hybrid 2=56.33±4.73 ppt), and OST (iBEST Hybrid 1=36.00±2.65 ppt; iBEST Hybrid 2=37.67±6.03 ppt) values, indicating that the offspring of the reciprocal crosses of parents is lacking of maternal/paternal influence with regards to the salinity tolerance of its progenies. Therefore, reciprocal hybrids of the iBEST Parent Lines would have a comparable salinity tolerance during the grow-out culture of tilapia in a brackish and saline environment. Salinity tolerance values of iBEST are significantly higher compared to the MLS (31.33 ± 6.43 ppt), MST (35.67 ± 2.52 ppt), and OST (14.33 ± 2.52 ppt) values of iEXCEL (Oreochromis niloticus) juveniles. This study demonstrated the capacity of iBEST hybrids in terms of salinity tolerance and its potential in brackish and saline water aquaculture.