Comparison of Live Brine Shrimp Nauplii and Nonliving Diets as First Food for Striped Bass Larvae

Abstract

Abstract A feeding experiment was conducted in aquaria to evaluate growth, survival, and food consumption by larval striped bass (Morone saxatilis) fed live brine shrimp, shock-frozen brine shrimp, freeze-dried brine shrimp, or a commercial dry diet. The larvae were fed from first feeding through day 19 posthatch. Through day 16 there was no difference in standard length between fish fed the live brine shrimp and those fed the dry diet (P > 0.05), whereas fish fed the other diets were smaller (P < 0.05). At day 19, the striped bass fed the live brine shrimp were larger than those fed all other diets (P < 0.05). Survival was greatest (P < 0.05) for fish consuming live brine shrimp (28.5%), followed by those fed the dry diet (18.0%), freeze-dried brine shrimp (9.8%), and shock-frozen brine shrimp (9.3%). The percentage of fish consuming food was greatest (P < 0.10) for striped bass fed live brine shrimp (85.8%), followed by those fed freeze-dried brine shrimp (38.6%), shock-frozen brine shrimp (38.2%), and ...