Progress in diet development for blue swimmer crab, Portunus pelagicus , juveniles: Effect of dietary phospholipid on survival, development, growth and resistance to osmotic shock

Abstract This study examined the effects of dietary phospholipid ( PL ) level on survival, growth, development and resistance to osmotic shock of early blue swimmer crab, Portunus pelagicus , juveniles. Six iso‐lipidic diets formulated to contain PL at 0 (basal), 30, 60, 90, 120 and 150 g/kg (dry matter) were offered to first‐stage crabs (C1) until they achieved C4 stage. Highest survival (93.3%) was achieved by crabs fed diets with PL supplementation levels of 120 and 150 g/kg. Crabs fed diets with PL supplementation levels of 120 and 150 g/kg developed to C4, on average, in 14 days, which was significantly faster ( p  < 0.05) than crabs in all other treatments. Crabs fed with the same diets also had significant greater dry weight than crabs in other treatments ( p  < 0.01), except those fed the diet supplemented with 90 g/kg PL ( p  > 0.05). Dietary PL level markedly influenced survival of juveniles exposed to a stress test of low salinity (7 g/L); most crabs (>87%) fed diets supplemented with PL at 120 and 150 g/kg survived to the end of stress test. Dietary PL levels of 120 g/kg and 150 g/kg are suggested to maximize productivity in early P. pelagicus culture.