The world’s fastest growing abalone—the tropical donkey’s ear abalone, Haliotis asinina—can be bred to grow rapidly and reliably for aquaculture, Queensland biologists have found. And that makes it potentially a high value alternative crop for struggling prawn farmers.
The researchers looked at whether they could speed up breeding of abalone for aquaculture using modern technology to identify and select genes that are activated in fast-growing animals. By linking the abundance of specific genes with fast growth rates, they have now shown their proposal is practical.
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