A Standard Reference Diet for Crustacean Nutrition Research. I. Evaluation of Two Formulations

Abstract

AbstractAn international cooperative effort to evaluate two possible Standard Reference Diets (SRD) for crustaceans was initiated at an informal discussion on crustacean nutrition during the 1984 World Mariculture Society (WMS) meeting in Vancouver, B.C. One diet, BML 81 S, was developed at the Bodega Marine Laboratory, University of California, Davis. The other, HFXCRD 84, was developed at the Halifax laboratory, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Canada. Details of the formulation, preparation and proximate composition of the diets are provided. Both of these diets, which had been used to culture lobster, Homarus sp., were compared with the usual control diets of several research teams from different countries in feeding trials with many different species of crustaceans including freshwater and marine shrimp, prawn, lobster, crayfish and crab.The preliminary data on growth and survival ofPandalus danae, Penaeus monodon, P. stylirostris, P. vannamei, P. brasiliensis, P. setiferus, P. aztecus and Homarus americanus suggest that either BML 81 S or HFX CRD 84 would be an acceptable SRD for these species. The only species tested that would not accept either diet were Panulirus argus and Cherux tenuimanus. Use of an SRD will provide a more accurate assessment of non‐nutritional growth factors and permit comparisons among laboratories, species and experiments.