Timing of Development During Epiboly in Embryos of Second-Generation Crosses and Backcrosses between Odd- and Even-Broodyear Pink Salmon, Oncorhynchus gorbuscha

Odd- and even-year-spawning pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) are genetically isolated; their broodlines differ even in the same natal stream. Hybrids between broodlines exhibit outbreeding depression in survival. Variation in the time to completion of epiboly in embryos appears to be adaptive in both broodlines. We compared stage of development at a time near the completion of epiboly in families of second-generation offspring from crosses between odd- and even-year broodlines with development stages of within-broodyear controls and of backcrossed families. We observed embryos derived from matings of mature fish that were the results of fertilizations made 2 years earlier of eggs from females from the even brood year with semen from males from the even broodyear and with cryopreserved semen from males of the odd broodyear. The resulting fry had been released to the Pacific Ocean and recovered at maturity. Second generation embryos were produced by factorial matings of these mature fish involving (1) female and male controls, (2) female and male hybrids, and (3) both backcrosses. Analysis of variation of development time detected no effect of outbreeding, i.e., differences between controls and second generation hybrids (p > 0.05), but did detect variation between individual female parents (p < 0.03). Neither epistatic nor additive outbreeding depression could be detected in the rate of early embryonic development of pink salmon. However, effects on development rate attributable to female parents indicate that either a maternal effect or early additive genetic effects occurred before the expression of the paternal genome in embryos.