Open AccessAssessment of the fecundity, population growth and fatty acid composition of Apocyclops royi (Cyclopoida, Copepoda) fed on different microalgal diets
Author(s) -
Pan Y.J.,
Sadovskaya I.,
Hwang J.S.,
Souissi S.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
aquaculture nutrition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.941
H-Index - 79
eISSN - 1365-2095
pISSN - 1353-5773
DOI - 10.1111/anu.12633
Subject(s) - biology , fecundity , polyunsaturated fatty acid , food science , population , copepod , docosahexaenoic acid , fatty acid , composition (language) , isochrysis galbana , botany , zoology , algae , biochemistry , crustacean , linguistics , demography , philosophy , sociology
The brackish cyclopoid copepod Apocyclops royi is used in Taiwanese aquaculture industry as a prey for fish larvae. This study investigated the effects of seven microalgal diets, namely single‐species diets of Isochrysis galbana ( ISO ), Nannochloropsis oculata ( NAN ), and Tetraselmis chui ( TET ), two‐species diets ( ISO + NAN , ISO + TET and TET + NAN ), and a three‐species diet ( ISO + NAN + TET ), on the population growth, female fecundity and fatty acid composition of A. royi . For reproductive traits, the combination ISO + NAN was found to be the most supportive diet for both population growth and female fecundity. For nutritional value, copepods fed ISO and ISO + NAN were detected to have the highest content of docosahexaenoic acid ( DHA ) (18.99% and 10.73% total fatty acid, respectively) and, more importantly, a high DHA / EPA ratio (6.09 and 4.09, respectively). Additionally, a comparison of fatty acid composition between copepods and microalgae gives a tentative indication that A. royi may have the ability to synthesize long‐chain polyunsaturated fatty acids ( PUFA ) from short‐chain PUFA . Our findings illustrate that ISO + NAN is the most suitable microalgal diet for mass culturing A. royi because it increases productivity and enhances the nutritional value of the copepods for use as fish larvae prey.