RNA-seq of mandarin fish (Siniperca chuatsi) larvae

Mandarin fish (Siniperca chuatsi) is an important economic fish species in China. Many carnivorous fish larvae feed on non-fish live feeds. However, mandarin fish larvae feed on live prey fish exclusively, while refuses zooplankton or microdiets. The stable supply of palatable live prey fish consumes large amounts of fingerling resources and manpower, resulting in high costs. Moreover, the application of live prey fish might bring risk of pathogens. Currently, little is known about the genes underlying the food choice of mandarin fish larvae. Mandarin fish larvae usually open mouth at 3 days post-hatching (dph). In the present study, mandarin fish (Siniperca chuatsi) larvae were randomly divided into 3 groups, then treated differently at 3 dph: (1) unfed (negative control); (2) fed with live prey fish; (3) fed with brine shrimp (Artemia). At 2 h after feeding, the larvae were sampled. RNA-seq was performed. Our study provides an overview of genes and biological processes involved in first-feeding in mandarin fish larvae, and has critical importance to future application of non-fish live feeds in the culture of mandarin fish larvae.