| Selective breeding to improve residual feed intake (RFI) in sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) is a major goal that would optimize economic gain while minimizing the environmental impact of production. Due to the difficulty in accurately measuring individual feed intake, no selective breeding program has yet been started. In a previous study, we identified a criterion phenotypically related to RFI variations: the loss of weight during feed deprivation, FD. Moreover, an additional composite criterion (CC) integrating both FD and weight gain during subsequent re-feeding (RF) was closely related to RFI, even though the relationship was only close to significance (P=0.06). The aim of the present study was to estimate the heritability of these two traits, in order... |
