Table 1.
The average generation times of selected major aquaculture species.
| Family | Species | Typical generation time (years)a | Notes | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cyprinidae | Common carp | 1–4 | Jeney and Bekh (2020) | |
| Grass carp | 4–7 | Billard (1999) | ||
| Silver carp | 4–6 | FAO (2005a) | ||
| Bighead carp | 5–6 | FAO (2004a) | ||
| Tench | 2–4 | Billard (1999) | ||
| Cichlidae | Nile tilapia | 0.5 | FAO (2005b) | |
| Ictaluridae | Channel catfish | 2–3 | Gjedrem (2005) | |
| Salmonidae | Atlantic salmon | 3–4 | Hattori et al. (2019) | |
| Coho salmon | 2 | Gjedrem (2005) | ||
| Chinook salmon | 2–3 | Gjedrem (2005) | ||
| Masu salmon | 2–3 | Okutsu et al. (2007) | ||
| Rainbow trout | 1–2 | Hattori et al. (2019) | ||
| Sparidae | Gilthead seabream | 2–3 | Sequential hermaphrodite, Protandrous | FAO (2005c) |
| Moronidae | European seabass | 2–3 | FAO (2005d) | |
| Serranidae | Orange-spotted grouper | 2–5 | Sequential hermaphrodite, Protogynous | FAO (2010) |
| Carangidae | Yellowtail | 3–5 | Morita et al. (2015) | |
| Jack mackerel | 1 | Morita et al. (2015) | ||
| Scombridae | Pacific bluefin tuna | 3–5 | Ichida et al. (2017) | |
| Chanidae | Milkfish | 5 | FAO (2007) | |
| Mugilidae | Flathead grey mullet | 2–3 | FAO (2006a) | |
| Scophthalmidae | Turbot | 2–3 | FAO (2005e) | |
| Pleuronectidae | Atlantic halibut | 4–6 | Gjedrem (2005) | |
| Gadidae | Atlantic cod | 2–4 | FAO (2004b) | |
| Tetraodontidae | Tiger puffer | 2–3 | Yoshikawa et al. (2020) | |
| Grass puffer | 0.8–2 | Yoshikawa et al. (2020) | ||
| Acipenseridae | Siberian sturgeon | 18–28 | Pšenička et al. (2015) | |
| Sterlet | 3–9 | Froese and Pauly (2019) | ||
| Crustaceans | Whiteleg shrimp | 1 | FAO (2006b) | |
| Prawn (Macrobrachium) | 1 | Gjedrem (2005) | ||
| Molluscs | Blue mussel | 1–2 | FAO (2009) | |
| Oyster | 1–4 | Sequential hermaphrodite, Protandrous | Bayne (2017), Bernard (1975) | |
| Hard clam | 2–3 | FAO (2004c) | ||
| Scallops | 2–3 | Simultaneous hermaphrodite | Gjedrem (2005) | |
| Abalone | > 3 | FAO (1990) |
a
Note that the generation interval varies depending on environmental factors, in particular temperature. Also note that the figures shown may vary according to sex, and can be considered as an average without targeted environmental manipulation to accelerate sexual maturity.