Feeding early larval stages
of fire shrimp Lysmata debelius (Caridea, Hippolytidae)
F.
Simoes, F. Ribeiro, D.A. Jones-2002
Aquaculture
International, 10(5):
349-360
Abstract:
An important constraint to the commercial rearing of
the marine ornamental shrimp Lysmata debelius is high larval
mortality during early stages due to inappropriate procedures of larval
collection and not feeding a live prey before one day elapsed after
hatching. This incorrect feeding practice is commonly adopted in larval
rearing of L. debelius and other ornamental marine shrimps because
it is wrongly assumed that reserves of the newly hatched are enough for the
first 24 h of life. Present work demonstrates that captive newly hatched L.
debelius larvae ingest microalgae within minutes after hatching. When
fed solely with Artemia nauplii, they have acceptable survival
rates with stocking densities at or below 50 larval L-1; but when
nauplii are combined with microalgae, survival is further improved to zoea 2
as initial mortality is reduced, and higher stocking densities are supported
(up to 75 larvae L-1). The microalgae used were Rhinomonas
reticulata, Skeletonema costata and Tetraselmis chuii. Higher
survival through metamorphosis to zoea 2 was always observed for groups fed
combinations of microalgae including Tetraselmis chuii. It is
recommended that, larval collection methods ensure that larvae are fed
microalgae within 2–3 h of release.
(School of Ocean
Sciences, University of Wales, Bangor, Nagelsey, LL59 5EY, UK, e-mail: nunosimoes@prodigy.net.mx)