Whole-genome resequencing of mandarin fish (Siniperca chuatsi)

Mandarin fish (Siniperca chuatsi) is one of the most economically important fish in China. It is becoming increasingly popular with consumers due to its delicate and tasty meat. However, mandarin fish has very peculiar food habits that it feeds solely on live prey fish since first-feeding, and refuses dead prey fish or artificial diets. The stable supply of palatable live prey fish for mandarin fish resulted in high farming costs. After specific training procedure, partial individuals could accept dead prey fish, then accept artificial diets well. In the present study, resequencing of 10 individuals from undomesticated group and 10 individuals from artificial diet domesticated group was performed. Selective sweep analyses were performed to detect selective sweep signatures for feeding habit domestication trait in mandarin fish. Candidate genomic regions and genes identified in the present study could be critical resources for understanding feeding habit domestication trait.