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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Stuttgart, Arkansas » Harry K. Dupree Stuttgart National Aquaculture Research Cntr » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #244589
Title: Larval quality of aquacultured Florida pompano, Trachinotus carolinus L. fed rotifers enriched with selected commercial diets

Author
item CAVALIN, FERNANDO - Florida Atlantic University
item Weirich, Charles

Submitted to: Aquaculture
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/20/2009
Publication Date: 4/10/2009
Citation: Cavalin, F.G., Weirich, C.R. 2009. Larval quality of aquacultured Florida pompano, Trachinotus carolinus L. fed rotifers enriched with selected commercial diets. Aquaculture. 292(1-2):67-73.

Interpretive Summary: First identified as an excellent candidate for mariculture over three decades ago, renewed interest in the culture of Florida pompano has recently occurred. However, as is the case with most marine finfish species, information on larviculture techniques to produce a consistent and reliable supply of seed stock is lacking. As such, this phase of production has been a major bottleneck to the development of pompano aquaculture. Once larvae absorb their yolk reserves after hatching they must be provided with food items to ensure proper growth and survival. Unfortunately, like most marine larval fish, pompano larvae required live feed organisms during their initial development such as rotifers. To be a complete feed, rotifers must first be fed or enriched with diets containing essential nutrients such as fatty acids. This study was conducted to compare the effect of feeding rotifers enriched with several different commercially available rotifer enrichment diets on growth, survival, and fatty acid composition of pompano larvae. Two 9-d rearing trials were conducted in recirculating systems using standardized larval rearing techniques developed at our location. Diets evaluated included Isochrysis and Pavlova microalgae pastes, a semi-moist diet (Protein Selco Plus), and three dry enrichment products (AlgaMac3050, Ori-Green, and Protein HUFA). Results indicated that growth, survival, and fatty acid composition were all affected by enrichment treatment. Best growth was observed when larvae were fed rotifers enriched with Pavlova and Protein HUFA while highest survival was obtained when larvae were fed rotifers enriched with Protein Selco Plus.

Technical Abstract: Development of larviculture methods for marine finfish has been a major bottleneck to ensure a consistent and reliable source of seed stock. This study examined the effect of selected rotifer enrichment diets on growth, survival, and fatty acid content of larval Florida pompano, Trachinotus carolinus L. Two 9-d rearing trials were conducted using a recirculating aquaculture system composed of 12, 110-L tanks. In Trial 1, two microalgae concentrates (Isochrysis sp., ISO; and Pavlova sp.), a semi-moist paste (Protein Selco Plus, PS+), and a combination of the three diets were compared. In Trial 2, PS+ and three dry enrichment diets (Ori-Green, OG; Protein HUFA, PH; and AlgaMac 3050, AM) were compared. At 3-9 d post hatch (DPH) larvae were fed rotifers 4 X daily at a rate of 2.5 rotifers/ml/feeding. In Trial 1 at 9 DPH, standard length (SL) of larvae fed Pavlova-enriched rotifers was greater (P < 0.05) than that of larvae fed rotifers enriched with ISO; and the combined treatment and body depth (BD) of larvae fed Pavlova-enriched rotifers was greater than that of larvae fed rotifers enriched with the combined treatment. In Trial 2 at 9 DPH, SL and BD of larvae fed PH-enriched rotifers was greater than that of larvae fed rotifers enriched with other diets. Survival of larvae fed PS+ enriched rotifers was highest in both trials and was significantly greater than that of larvae fed rotifers enriched with Pavlova and the combined treatment in Trial 1 and larvae fed rotifers enriched with PH and AM in Trial 2. While lipid content and fatty acid composition of PS+ enriched rotifers closely resembled that of pompano yolk sac larvae, n-3 HUFA content of PS+ enriched rotifers as well as tissue of larvae fed PS+ enriched rotifers was not significantly greater than that of other diets tested in both trials.