(USE OF MEALS FROM AGRICULTURE BY-PRODUCTS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF BIOMASS OF THE BRANCHIOPOD ARTEMIA FRANCISCANA KELLOG, 1906), in Spanish
PhD Thesis by M.G. Ulloa Gomez, 1998
Universidad de Colima, Col., Mexico
Abstract :
The use of meals from agricultural by-products (micropulverized soy bean and wheat husk) for biomass production of the brine shrimp Artemia franciscana was evaluated. Output results were compared feeding the animals with both live and dry microalgae. The experimental diets were as follows: 100% wheat meal, 100% soy meal, 70% wheat meal + 30% soy meal, 100% dried Spirulina, 100% live Tetraselmis suecica, and 100% live Chaetoceros calcitrans. The biomass production, the mean animal length and survival were examined considering the energy content of each diet. The daily food ration of Artemia fed on live microalgae and the presence of antinutritional components in the meal based diets were evaluated as well. All diets and animals fed with the experimental diets were biochemically studied. The reproductive effort of the following organisms : Artemia, Poecilia reticulata (guppy fish) and the freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium tenellum, was analyzed when feeding them with the experimental diets. Remarkable points are the presence of saponins in the soy meal diet and the use of a commercial enzyme to diminish its toxicity on the Artemia growth, as well as the differences found in the biological results related with the energy content of the diets when the water transparency criteria was applied to adjust the food ration. Energetically speaking, the diets based on live microalgae promoted the growth and reproduction of Artemia. On the other hand, the energy content of the meal based diets was not enough for Artemia reproduction. For the other test organisms (P. reticulata and M. tenellum) there were no significant differences (P>0.05) for the biological parameters examined (number of eggs spawned or baby fish released per spawning and per treatment, individual weight and length). The use of meals for Artemia biomass production seems to be linked with the carbohydrate metabolism, favoring its growth during the first culture days.