Effects of pelleted probiotic on growth, water quality, and disease resistance in Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) in static biofloc systems

Authors: BAJRACHARYA, SHRIJAN - Auburn University; APPUHAMI, ISHINI - Auburn University; BRUCE, TIMOTHY - Auburn University; ROY, LUKE - American Sport Fish; Garcia, Julio; DAVIS, D. - Auburn University

Submitted to: Aquaculture Research
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/14/2025
Publication Date: 7/29/2025
Citation: Bajracharya, S., Appuhami, I.A., Bruce, T.J., Roy, L., Garcia, J.C., Davis, D.A. 2025. Effects of pelleted probiotic on growth, water quality, and disease resistance in Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) in static biofloc systems. Aquaculture Research. 2025: Article 4619797. https://doi.org/10.1155/are/4619797.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1155/are/4619797

Interpretive Summary: Probiotics are increasingly used in aquaculture to improve growth and water quality and boost disease resistance in farmed species.This study investigated the application of various concentrations of a commercial probiotic (mix of Bacillus subtilis and B. liche-niformis) added to culture water to evaluate its effects on growth performance, water quality, and resistance to Vibrio parahae-molyticus infection. Over a 9-week trial, Pacific white shrimp (1.20 Æ 0.01 g; stocked at 160 shrimp m-3 ) were reared in staticbiofloc culture systems consisting of 24 independent 156 L circular black polyethylene tanks. Shrimp were subjected to variousprobiotic concentrations weekly (×4, ×8, and ×16 of the recommended dose, which was one pellet per 200 g of feed) as threetreatments. The control group (×0), without any probiotic addition, was used as the fourth treatment. Each treatment had sixreplicate tanks and shrimp were provided a commercial diet (Zeigler Shrimp Grower SI-35, CP 35%) four times per day via handfeeding. Following 9 weeks of culture, probiotic addition did not significantly impact growth or water quality (besides significantdissolved oxygen (DO) and temperature variations), but improved disease resistance. During the disease challenge, survival in allprobiotic treatments (×4, ×8, and ×16) was significantly higher (regardless of dose) than that of the control group (x0; p<0:05).These results suggest that the commercial probiotic may enhance shrimp resilience against Vibrio spp. infections. These findingssuggest that although growth or water quality improvements were not confirmed in this trial, this probiotic appears to positivelyaffect disease resistance in shrimp against V. parahaemolyticus infection in biofloc systems.

Technical Abstract: Probiotics are increasingly used in aquaculture to improve growth and water quality and boost disease resistance in farmed species.This study investigated the application of various concentrations of a commercial probiotic (mix of Bacillus subtilis and B. liche-niformis) added to culture water to evaluate its effects on growth performance, water quality, and resistance to Vibrio parahae-molyticus infection. Over a 9-week trial, Pacific white shrimp (1.20 Æ 0.01 g; stocked at 160 shrimp m-3 ) were reared in staticbiofloc culture systems consisting of 24 independent 156 L circular black polyethylene tanks. Shrimp were subjected to variousprobiotic concentrations weekly (×4, ×8, and ×16 of the recommended dose, which was one pellet per 200 g of feed) as threetreatments. The control group (×0), without any probiotic addition, was used as the fourth treatment. Each treatment had sixreplicate tanks and shrimp were provided a commercial diet (Zeigler Shrimp Grower SI-35, CP 35%) four times per day via handfeeding. Following 9 weeks of culture, probiotic addition did not significantly impact growth or water quality (besides significantdissolved oxygen (DO) and temperature variations), but improved disease resistance. During the disease challenge, survival in allprobiotic treatments (×4, ×8, and ×16) was significantly higher (regardless of dose) than that of the control group (x0; p<0:05).These results suggest that the commercial probiotic may enhance shrimp resilience against Vibrio spp. infections. These findingssuggest that although growth or water quality improvements were not confirmed in this trial, this probiotic appears to positivelyaffect disease resistance in shrimp against V. parahaemolyticus infection in biofloc systems.