Food ingestion and
digestibility of five unicellular algae by 1-day-old Strombus gigas
larvae
V. Patiño-Suárez, D. Aldana Aranda, A.G.
Zamora-2004
Aquaculture
Research, 35(12):
1149-1152
Abstract:
This work presents food ingestion and digestibility
analysis carried out by means of epifluorescence microscopy of 1-day-old Strombus
gigas (Linnaeus, 1758) larvae fed five different algal cells: Tetraselmis
suecica, T. tetrathele, Chlorella keslleri, Chlorella sp. and Chaetoceros
cerastoporum. Absolute ingestion and digestion indices (AII and ADI)
were used to compare larval feeding behaviour. Differences in efficiency of
ingestion and digestion were observed, according to the diet: the highest
AII and ADI were observed with T. suecica and T. tetrathele
(>90% and 85-88% respectively). With C. cerastoporum and Chlorella
sp. these indices were zero. We confirm the use of Tetraselmis as a
suitable diet for S. gigas hatchery. On the contrary, Chlorella
sp. and C. cerastoporum are not recommended during the early larval
stage, due to their non-ingestion and digestion.
(Laboratorio de Biología Marina, CINVESTAV IPN,
Unidad Mérida Km. 6 Carr. Ant. a Progreso CP 97310, Mérida, Yucatán, México.
E-mails of D.A. Aranda: vpatino@mda.cinvestav.mx,
daldana@mda.cinvestav.mx)