Open AccessUse of Cyclop‐eeze as a substitute for Artemia nauplii in larval rearing of giant freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii (De Man 1879)
Author(s) -
MOHANAKUMARAN NAIR C.,
SALIN K.R.,
ASHOK KUMAR K.
Publication year - 2007
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/j.1365-2095.2007.00457.x
Subject(s) - macrobrachium rosenbergii , biology , prawn , larva , astaxanthin , zoology , brine shrimp , shrimp , fishery , macrobrachium , food science , crustacean , decapoda , botany , carotenoid
Four feeding experiments, replacing 25% (T 1 ), 50% (T 2 ), 75% (T 3 ) and 100% (T 4 ), by dry weight, of the live feed Artemia nauplii for Cyclop‐eeze, a new larval feed that was claimed to contain the highest known levels of astaxanthin and omega‐3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, were compared against a control that was fed with Artemia and egg custard alone, to the larvae of giant freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii (De Man 1879). Analysis of different production characteristics of the larvae revealed that the highest survival up to postlarvae (PL) stage was obtained for T 2 in which 50% of the Artemia nauplii were replaced by Cyclop‐eeze [freeze‐dried (FD) deep frozen (DF)], and the highest astaxanthin content of the larval tissue obtained in T 4 in which the larvae were fed 100% Cyclop‐eeze, although the survival rate was the lowest in this treatment. The costs of different treatments were also compared. The Artemia consumption million −1 larvae was the highest in control (11490 g), followed by T 1 (8240 g), T 2 (4990 g), T 3 (3730 g) and T 4 , which completely replaced Artemia from stage 5 onwards (1830 g). The highest consumption of Cyclop‐eeze million −1 larvae was in T 4 (1670 and 10 880 g), followed by T 3 (850 and 5560 g), T 2 (410 and 2690 g) and T 1 (230 and 1490 g) of FD and DF, respectively. The astaxanthin contents of the late‐stage larvae fed under the four treatments were 24.90, 27.40, 28.60 and 35.60 μ g g −1 tissue for T 1 , T 2 , T 3 and T 4 , respectively, while that of the control was 23.70 μ g g −1 . The lowest cost of live feeds million −1 PL was obtained for T 2 (US$ 428.60), followed by T 1 (US$ 490.46), control (US$ 529.07) and T 3 (US$ 583.26), while it was the highest for T 4 (US$ 890.93). The results indicated that Cyclop‐eeze could economically replace Artemia nauplii at 50% level that could significantly improve the survival and carotenoid composition of the larvae of M. rosenbergii .