Heritability Estimates for Growth Traits and Correlation Analysis between Weight and Metamorphosis Rate in the Bullfrog Rana (Aquarana) catesbeiana

Metamorphosis is a crucial process in the life cycle of Rana (Aquarana) catesbeiana. R. catesbeiana tadpoles, in their short larval period, possess a high survival rate and also a highly competitive ability in the amphibious stage. In actual seed production, the economic traits of larval period and metamorphosis rate are used as quantifiable indicators of quality for individuals and populations, respectively. However, studies of these economic traits in larval cultivation and production are still lacking. In this study, we constructed 40 full-sib families of R. catesbeiana and measured the weight and metamorphosis rate of tadpoles at different developmental stages. Subsequently, we calculated the phenotypic and genetic association between weight and metamorphosis rate in tadpoles and assessed the heritability of these two traits. The heritabilities of weight at three developmental stages were all higher than 0.40 and decreased with advancement of the developmental stage; the heritability of the metamorphosis rate was 0.18 ± 0.20, a moderate level. Correlation analysis of weight and metamorphosis rate at each developmental stage in each tadpole family showed that weight at stages 25-I, 25-II, and 25-III was significantly correlated at the phenotypic level but non-significantly at the genetic level. The metamorphosis rate was only moderately associated with stage 25-III weight (0.38, p < 0.05). The results of this study confirm the importance and transportability of tadpole weight in actual seed production and provide basic data and a potentially optimized direction for the selective breeding of high-metamorphosis-rate bullfrogs.