Open AccessComparing the capacity of five different dietary treatments to optimise growth and nutritional composition in two scleractinian corals
Author(s) -
Jessica A. Conlan,
Line K. Bay,
Andrea Severati,
Craig Humphrey,
David S. Francis
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0207956
Subject(s) - biology , coral , polyunsaturated fatty acid , seawater , reef , coral reef , ecology , fatty acid , biochemistry
Developing an optimal heterotrophic feeding regime has the potential to improve captive coral growth and health. This study evaluated the efficacy of three exogenous diets: Artemia nauplii (ART), a commercially available coral diet (Reef Roids) (RR), and a novel, micro-bound diet (ATF), against a comparatively natural, unfiltered seawater treatment (RAW), and an unfed, ultra-filtered seawater treatment (CTL), in adult Acropora millepora and Pocillopora acuta nubbins. After 90 days, both species showed significantly positive weight gain in response to one treatment ( A . millepora –RAW, P . acuta –ART), and comparatively low growth in response to another ( A . millepora –ATF, P . acuta –RR). The results highlighted substantial differences in the nutritional requirements between species. The nutritional composition of A . millepora in the best performing treatment was dominated by high-energy materials such as storage lipids and saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids. In contrast, the P . acuta nutritional profile in the superior treatment showed a predominance of structural materials, including protein, phospholipids, and polyunsaturated fatty acids. This study demonstrates that Artemia nauplii can successfully replace a natural feeding regime for captive P . acuta , yet highlights the considerable work still required to optimise supplementary feeding regimes for A . millepora .