Physiology of triploid fish

Triploidy has become a recommended tool for aquaculture since problems associated with gonadal maturation can be eliminated or reduced by producing triploid fish, which are functionally sterile. Although the possibility of sterilizing a large number of individuals has helped for triploidy to become an important issue economically, the physiological changes caused by the addition of a third set of chromosomes provides the opportunity to study basic processes in fish with a higher ploidy status. At physiological level the consequences of triploidy are closely related to the increase of cell size and its subsequent impact on various metabolic and biochemical processes. The aim of this work is to describe the main physiological consequences reported for marine and freshwater fishes resulting from the induction of triploidy. Understanding these consequences is of vital importance to maximize the performance of triploid fish under culture.