For decades rotifers (Brachionus plicatilis) and Artemia (decapsulated cysts and nauplii) have been utilized to feed early stages of several species of marine fish larvae in many countries in the world (Brazil, EC, Norway, USA, Taiwan and Japan). Enrichment techniques either for rotifers of for Artemia have been successfully used with good results in these countries.
Nevertheless, marine fish culture in Brazil is becoming dependent on importation of lineages of super-small rotifers from Japan and increasing quantities of Artemia cysts (specially from USA) due to contrasting decrease of production and increase of national market prices of cysts produced in Brazil (Macau, Rio Grande do Norte). The oscillation of the world market prices of Artemia cysts has created difficulties in maintaining competitive prices of larvae fish to farmers (grow-out).
However, researchers have found new alternatives of live foods to complement, but hardly to substitute rotifers and Artemia for marine fish larvae. Some species of copepods (i.e. Tisbe holothuriae) and cladocerans (i.e. Daphnia sp, Moina sp) have emerged as good candidates after studies on nutrition and feeding of many species of marine fish larvae. Some of these planctonic micro-crustaceans have better nutritional value when compared with rotifers and Artemia nauplii.
The production of some species of zooplanktonic organisms is already taking place in some countries of Europe and has become a feasible possibility in many larvicultures. In Brazil, some experiments performed by researchers remotely on new alternatives are being accomplished in order to find new candidates of live foods.
In this work, we try to show the possibility of the use of such alternatives to vary the kind of feeding in the larviculture of snooks (i.e. Centropomus undecimalis, C. parallelus), mullet (Mugil platanus), flounder (Paralichthys orbygnianus), silverside (Odonthestes argentinensis) and grouper (Epinephelus guaza).
(Abstract of Monograph presented by Rikard M. Kjaedegaard to the Department of Fisheries of the Rural Federal University of the State of Pernambuco (UFRPE), Brazil, to obtain the Degree of Specialist in Aquaculture)