Parental impacts on industry-relevant offspring performance traits using blue catfish, Ictalurus furcatus (Valenciennes, 1840), cryopreserved sperm

Catfish accounts for ∼70 % of U.S. finfish aquaculture production with the channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) female by blue catfish (I. furcatus) male hybrid constituting the majority of the harvest. Issues in hatcheries persist with blue catfish due to late sexual maturity, lethal sperm collection procedures, and variable sperm quality. Our objectives were to (i) relate male morphometrics, hormones, and sperm parameters to offspring traits (i.e., hatch, survival, weight, morphometrics), and (ii) examine parental contributions to offspring traits using cryopreserved sperm. Sperm were collected from 44 males and quality indices quantified post-cryopreservation. Collected sperm were used to fertilize 3 channel catfish females, creating 44 families. Fifty offspring were reared in triplicate tanks per family from 0 to 40 days post-hatching (DPH) and offspring traits quantified. Larger males produced larger offspring at 40 DPH (R² ≥ 0.32, P ≤ 0.03) with higher survival (R² ≥ 0.23, P ≤ 0.05), while males with a higher gonadosomatic index produced significantly smaller offspring expressing lower hatch and survival (R² ≥ 0.26). Sperm quality significantly correlated to offspring performance, where higher lipid peroxidation created offspring with lower survival (R² = 0.34). Sperm kinematics were positively correlated to hatch (R² ≥ 0.26) and significant maternal (VC = 23.2 %) and paternal(maternal) (VC = 32.1 %) variance components (VC) were detected for hatch. Maternity significantly impacted most morphometric traits (VC ≥ 20.8 %), while paternal effects increased (VC = 2.7–3.4 %) throughout early development. To conclude, paternal body measurements and sperm traits can be used to predict hatch and offspring performance. Hatcheries should account for maternal/paternal variation to select the best broodstock for reproduction.