Sex determination in the genus Oreochromis

Summary Sex ratios from 62 single-pair matings of normal broodstock O. aureus were highly heterogeneous with an overall deficit of males (41.4%). Peaks in the sex ratio frequency distribution occurred at 11, 35 and 13 (malefemale). Hybridisation of O. aureus with O. mossambicus, O. spilums and O. niloticus produced highly variable sex ratios, suggesting a complexity of hybrid sex determination. Few valid inferences could be made regarding intraspecific sex determination from these hybrid data. Sex ratios from progeny testing of sex-reversed males (13) and most sex-reversed females (10) provide evidence for female heterogamety in O. aureus. Several aberrant ratios observed suggest Mendelian inheritance of an autosomal recessive gene (F,f), epistatic to the major sex-determining gene (W,Z). Sex ratios of triploids and gynogens support the hypothesis of recombination between the centromere and the major sex-determining locus. Progeny testing of a female mitogyne demonstrated the viability of a novel WW superfemale, which gave only female offspring. Not all data could be explained by a two-factor model of sex determination. Further exceptional sex ratios may be accounted for by rare autosomal or environmental sex-modifying factors. It is concluded that O. aureus has a multifactorial mechanism of sex determination with the underlying primary mechanism of female heterogamety.