February 15-18, 2009 Washington State Convention Center Seattle ...

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EVALUATION OF COMMERCIAL ARTEMIA ENRICHMENT PRODUCTS ON GROWTH,
SURVIVAL, STRESS TOLERANCE, AND FATTY ACID COMPOSITION OF LARVAL
FLORIDA POMPANO
Charles R. Weirich
USDA Agricultural Research Service
Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute at Florida Atlantic University
5600 US Highway 1 North
Ft. Pierce, FL 34946 USA
charles.weirich@ars.usda.gov
Rearing live feed organisms represents the majority of time and labor associated with larviculture operations vital to the seed
stock supply of marine finfish aquaculture production facilities. No information exists with respect to optimal Artemia enrichment
protocols for Florida pompano Trachinotus carolinus, a high-value species with excellent potential for aquaculture in
the US. This study compared growth, survival, stress tolerance, and fatty acid composition of pompano larvae fed Artemia
enriched with selected commercial diets.
Two 9-day rearing trials were conducted. In Trial 1, the enrichment products DC DHA Selco (Selco), Ori-Green (OG), and
AlgaMac3050 (AM) were evaluated. In Trial 2, Selco, Ori-Pro (OP), and a developmental product (Selco QI) were compared.
In both trials, larvae were reared using protocols developed at our facility and at 10 days post-hatch (DPH) were stocked into a
recirculating aquaculture system composed of 12, 110-L tanks at a rate of 7.7 (Trial 1) and 9.1 larvae/L (Trial 2). Four replicate
tanks were used for each enrichment treatment. At 11 DPH, larvae were fed 2 nd instar Artemia enriched with experimental
diets four times daily at a rate of 2-2.5 prey/ml/feeding. At 20 DPH, wet and dry weights of recently metamorphosed juveniles
were determined, and total length (TL), standard length (SL), and body depth (BD) were measured by image analysis. Stress
tolerance was assessed by acute hypersaline exposure (100 g/L). Survival was also determined and Artemia and fish samples
were collected for fatty acid analysis.
Results revealed that with the exception of dry weight in Trial 1 and BD in Trial 2, no differences existed among enrichment
diets with respect to growth, as well as survival. In Trial 1, stress tolerance of fish fed Artemia enriched with AM was reduced
relative to that of fish fed Selco and OG-enriched Artemia. In Trial 2, fish fed Artemia enriched with OP died immediately after
being transferred to hypersaline conditions. Fatty acid composition of Artemia enriched with tested products will be presented
as well as that of sampled fish.
Length, weight, and survival of 20 DPH pompano fed Artemia enriched with
selected commercial diets for 9 d in Trials 1 and 2
TL SL BD Wet wt. Dry wt. Survival
Diet (mm) (mm) (mm) (mg) (mg) (%)
Trial 1
Selco 14.4 a 11.5 a 3.9 a 42.4 a 9.6 a 55.9 a
OG 14.1 a 11.2 a 3.8 a 41.0 a 8.0 b 57.6 a
AM 14.5 a 11.5 a 3.7 a 36.0 a 9.0 ab 62.1 a
Trial 2
Selco 11.0 a 8.7 a 2.9 b 19.8 a 4.7 a 84.0 a
OP 11.3 a 9.0 a 3.2 a 21.1 a 4.7 a 85.2 a
Selco QI 11.1 a 8.8 a 2.9 b 20.1 a 5.0 a 84.4 a