Cm. Austin et M. Meewan, A preliminary study of primary sex ratios in the freshwater crayfish, Cherax destructor Clark, AQUACULTURE, 174(1-2), 1999, pp. 43-50
Although Cherax destructor is the principal cultured freshwater crayfish in
Australia many aspects of its general biology and genetics have been negle
cted. In this study, we report primary sex ratio data obtained from 13 fami
lies of C. destructor obtained from intra- and intersubspecific crosses wit
hin and between C. destructor destructor and C. destructor albidus. Intrasu
bspecies crosses and the intersubspecific cross between C. destructor albid
us males and C. destructor destructor females generated 1:1 sex ratios sugg
esting a simple chromosome-based sex determination mechanism in these crayf
ish. However, the reciprocal intersubspecific cross between C. destructor d
estructor males and C. destructor albidus females produced aberrant sex rat
ios with three of four families being consistent with a 3:1, male to female
, ratio and the fourth family consistent with a 100% male brood. These find
ings are difficult to interpret, however, they do suggest that the mechanis
m of sex determination may differ between the two subspecies and stress the
need for further research in this field. The implications of these results
in relation to the aquaculture of C. destructor are discussed. (C) 1999 El
sevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.