ARS | Publication request: COMPARISON OF GROWTH AND SURVIVAL OF SUNSHINE BASS FRY FED ROTIFERS CULTURED WITH CONCENTRATED PASTES OF NANOCHLOROPSIS, NANOCHLOROPSIS PLUS SUPER SELCO, OR NANOCHLOROPSIS PLUS PAVLOVA

Submitted to: World Aquaculture Society Meeting
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: November 24, 2003
Publication Date: March 1, 2004
Citation: Ludwig, G.M., Lochmann, S., Gaylord, T.G. 2004. Comparison of growth and survival of sunshine bass fry fed rotifers cultured with concentrated pastes of nanochloropsis, nanochloropsis plus super selco, or nanochloropsis plus pavlova [abstract]. In: World Aquaculture Society Meeting. p. 363.

Technical Abstract: Rotifers must be supplied to fry during tank culture. Rotifers with live algae and enriched with highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFA's). Enrichment is expensive and time comsuming. This experiment determined if fry production was the same without rotifer enrichment. We compared production of sunshine bass Morone chrysops X M. saxatilis fry that were fed rotifers that had been cultured with Nanochloropsis, or Nanochloropsis and Pavlova, or Nanochloropsis that was enriched with a concentrated highly unsaturated fatty acid (HUFA) suspension (Super Selco'). We used commercially available algae pastes. Rotifers Brachionus plicatilis were cultured in 45.4 and 90.8 L vessels with 20 mg/ml sea salt at 26°C. Their density was maintained at 800 to 2000/ml. Five day-old sunshine bass fry were stocked at 80 fry /L into dark blue tanks containing 100 L of 7 mg/ml artificial sea water. Water was not changed during the experiment. The fry were fed four times a day at 15 rotifers/ml. Chloram-X' was used to minimize ammonia. Fry were harvested during the eighth day. Mean survival rates were 77.0% for the Nanochloropsis treatment, 70.4% for the Pavlova treatment and 69.7 for the HUFA enriched treatment but differences were not significant. Fry growth during the experiment was 1.23 mm for the Nanochloropsis treatment, 1.51mm for the Pavlova treatment and 1.56 mm for fry receiving HUFA enriched rotifers (differences were not significant). The results of this experiment indicates the extra cost and labor involved in enriching the rotifers with Pavlova or HUFA's does not result in greater growth or survival.