Gynogenesis induction and sex determination in the Eurasian perch, Perca fluviatilis

In the present study, we used meiotic gynogenesis, widely used in studies on sex determination, to confirm female homogamety in Eurasian perch, Perca fluviatilis. Sperm irradiated with UV for 400 s was used to artificially fertilized eggs. The diploid of the resulting embryos was restored by a heat shock (30 degreesC) applied to the eggs 5 min postfertilization, for 25 min. Fertilization (ranging between 45% and 75%) and survival rates at hatching (ranging between 3.4% and 46.6%) were not significantly different (P>0.05) between the diploid control and gynogenetics. The diploid controls and two batches of gynogenetics contained 100% diploid larvae, whereas two other batches of gynogenetics contained 6.7% and 10.0% triploid larvae. The sex ratios of the diploid controls were not significantly different from 1:1, whereas all gynogenetic families were 100% female. These results confirm female homogamety in Eurasian perch, demonstrated by the use of hormonally mascilinized breeders in a previous study. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.