Evidence has accumulated that there is a trade-off between benefits and costs associated with rapid growth. A trade-off between growth rates and critical swimming speed (Ucrit) had been also reported to be common in teleost fish. We hypothesize that growth acceleration in the F3 generation of "all-fish" growth hormone gene (GH) transgenic common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) would reduce the swimming abilities. Growth and swimming performance between transgenic fish and non-transgenic controls were compared. The results showed that transgenic fish had a mean body weight 1.4―1.9-fold heavier,and a mean specific growth rate (SGR) value 6%―10% higher than the controls. Transgenic fish,however,had a mean absolute Ucrit (cm/s) value 22% or mean relative Ucrit (BL/s) value 24% lower than the controls. It suggested that fast-growing "all-fish" GH-transgenic carp were inferior swimmers. It is also supported that there was a trade-off between growth rates and swimming performance,i.e. faster-growing individuals had lower critical swimming speed.
LI DeLiangFU CuiZhangHU WeiZHONG ShanWANG YaPingZHU ZuoYan
