Abstract
Yellowtail snapper (Ocyurus chrysurus) is one of the most important Lutjanids species in the Caribbean due to its great importance in recreational and commercial fishing activities. Studies related to digestive physiology are essential to improve survival after hatching as high mortalities have been reported during larviculture. The aim of this study was to determine the changes in the activities of alkaline and acid proteases, trypsin, chymotrypsin, leucine aminopeptidase, lipase, amylase and alkaline phosphatase in O. chrysurus during their initial ontogeny through biochemical techniques. Larvae were fed with live prey (Nannochloropsis sp and Brachionus rotundiformis) from the opening mouth until 10 days after hatching (DAH), subsequently fed with rotifers and Artemia sp. nauplii until 15 DAH and finally were feed with enriched lipid emulsion Artemia sp. metanauplii to 42 DAH. Activities of most alkaline digestive enzymes started 5 DAH expressing differentially according to larval growth and larvae live diet. Furthermore, the activity of pepsin in O. chrysurus peaked at 34 DAH, suggesting the presence of a functional stomach. It is concluded that the early activity of most alkaline enzymes reflects the contribution of pancreatic and cytosolic enzymes, and that the weaning period could start after 34 DAH after the observed peak of levels.
Highlights
Yellowtail snapper (Ocyurus chrysurus) belongs to the Lutjanidae family and has significant importance in the recreational and commercial fishing (Faulk, Holt, & Davis, 2005, García-Torcuato, Cervantes-Trujano, & Ancona-Ordaz, 2006; Nirchio et al, 2009)
Once the yolk was absorbed, the larvae were fed daily four times per day (8:00, 12:00, 16:00 and 20:00 h) with microalgae (Nannochloropsis sp) and a lipid emulsion (SELCO) enriched rotifers (Brachionus rotundiformis) (ER) from the time of mouth opening (3 days after hatching (DAH)) until 10 DAH starting a co-feed performed by mixing rotifers with Artemia sp. nauplii (AN), at 12 DAH exclusively feed with Artemia sp. nauplii; from 25 DAH with lipid emulsion (SELCO) enriched Artemia sp. metanauplii (EAN) until 42 DAH
Alkaline protease activity per mg of protein started at 5 DAH (8.1 mU mg protein-1) with an increase at 19 DAH reaching its highest level at
Summary
Yellowtail snapper (Ocyurus chrysurus) belongs to the Lutjanidae family and has significant importance in the recreational and commercial fishing (Faulk, Holt, & Davis, 2005, García-Torcuato, Cervantes-Trujano, & Ancona-Ordaz, 2006; Nirchio et al, 2009). The bottleneck in the commercial culture of this species is a high mortality in the early life stages nutrition studies in larvae and juveniles are vital for a commercial scale production (Moyano, Díaz, Alarcón, & Sarasquete, 1996) In this sense juveniles production requires constant culture of live feed like microalgae, rotifers and Artemia, which are not always the most appropriate as they lack some essential nutrients (Alvarez-González et al, 2006; Alvarez-González et al, 2008; Xiu, Wei, Liang, Zhi, & Shuo, 2009; Jiménez-Martínez et al, 2012). Inert diets on the other hand, have offered easy availability, lower production costs and a viable manipulation, so achieving early weaning in larvae can help reduce production costs of living feed and improve production
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