Haliotis diversicolor is an economically important shellfish species in Taiwan. However, massive mortality of the H. diversicolor has occurred at post-larval and grown out stages that resulted in a mass loss of fishermen in recent years. Genetic improvement plays an important role in sustainable development for H. diversicolor aquaculture industry. This aim of the project will focus on genetic techniques, select molecular markers with cold-tolertant and establish superior economical traits of broodstocks.
The RAPD primers were used to analyze the genetic characteristics of the H. diversicolor sampled over recent years. Some abalone groups had several missing loci, and even the entire genetic locus disappeared. In the cold-tolerant test of the juvenile individuals, the survival rate of the cold-tolerant group (16.82 ± 0.21 °C) was significantly higher than that of the control group (28.22±0.75 °C), but its growth and weight gain were significantly lower than that of the control group. The shell length, shell width and body weight were 33.14±4.61mm, 21.09±3.13mm and 4.38±2.19g, respectively. After the experiments, the shell length, shell width and body weight of the cold-tolerant group were 30.70±2.84mm, 19.63±1.7mm and 3.14±0.87g respectively, which shows that the lower culture temperature is not good for the growth of the H. diversicolor, but contribute to the better rate of survival.