Suitability of the copepod, Acartia clausi as a live feed for Seabass larvae ( Lates calcarifer Bloch): Compared to traditional live-food organisms with special emphasis on the nutritional value

• Published in: Aquaculture Vol. 261; no. 2; pp. 649 - 658
• Main Authors: Rajkumar, M., Kumaraguru vasagam, K.P.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 24-11-2006; Elsevier Science; Elsevier Sequoia S.A
• Subjects: Acartia; Acartia clausi; Animal aquaculture; Animal productions; Aquaculture; Artemia; ash content; bass; Biological and medical sciences; body composition; carbohydrate content; carcass composition; Chaetoceros affinis; chemical composition; Chlorella marina; Copepod; Copepoda; Crustacea; Dicentrarchus labrax; essential amino acids; fatty acid composition; Feeds; Fish; fish culture; fish feeding; fish larvae; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General aspects; Growth; Invertebrates; Isochrysis galbana; Lates calcarifer; lipid content; Live feed; live feeds; mariculture; Marine; Marine biology; marine fish; Nutrition; protein content; Rotifera; Seabass; water content; Copepod; Lates calcarifer; Live feed; Growth; Seabass; Acartia clausi; Nutritive value; Feeding; Crustacea; Marine environment; Vertebrata; Larva; Arthropoda; Pisces; Copepoda; Dicentrarchus labrax; Invertebrata; Aquaculture
• ISSN: 0044-8486; 1873-5622
• DOI: 10.1016/j.aquaculture.2006.08.043

Though artificial propagation of Asian seabass
Lates calcarifer (Bloch) in captivity through induced breeding techniques is standardized under Indian conditions, larval and nursery rearing techniques including suitable nursery feeds have to be standardized to obtain better survival and growth. Feeding experiments in triplicate were conducted to evaluate the suitability of the marine copepod
Acartia clausi as live prey for fourteen day-old seabass larvae (6.53
±
0.06 mm; 8.58
±
0.33 mg) and compared with the traditional live prey, rotifers and
Artemia nauplii. While
A.
clausi and rotifers were mass produced using algae
Isochrysis galbana,
Chaetoceros affinis and
Chlorella marina,
Artemia nauplii were produced using cysts. Nutritional quality of cultured copepods was evaluated based on the proximate composition, amino acid and fatty acid composition, and compared with that of rotifers and
Artemia nauplii. Proximate composition varied significantly (
P
<
0.05) among the different live feeds.
A.
clausi showed higher protein (63.12%) and lipid (16.65%) content than
Artemia nauplii and rotifers. Total essential amino acids content was 2% lower in
A.
clausi compared to that in
Artemia nauplii. Fatty acid profiles of the live feed organisms showed that
A.
clausi is a rich source of
n
−
3 fatty acids. The total
n
−
3 fatty acid content of
A.
clausi was 33.94%. Length, weight overall weight gain and survivorship were significantly (
P
<
0.05) different among the dietary treatments, and weight gain was comparatively higher in
A.
clausi fed larvae. Survival of seabass larvae fed
A.
clausi was obtained highest as 58.13% against the lower values of 39.93% and 41.62% in larvae fed rotifer and
Artemia nauplii respectively. Final carcass composition of the larvae of
L.
calcarifer fed different live-food organisms showed significant differences (
P
<
0.05) among the dietary treatments. The fatty acid composition of the dietary treatments was reflected to a certain extent in the fatty acid composition of the seabass larvae. The present investigation revealed the nutritional value of calanoid copepod and thus underlining its usefulness as a suitable live-food organism for rearing larvae of the commercially valuable Asian seabass.