Abstract

The management of the first feeding is a critical stage in the viability of the larvae and fingerling rearing. So far, the first feeding of the bryconids record the best results when fed with forage larvae; thus, the aim was to evaluate two species of cladocerans as live prey in the first feeding of dorada Brycon sinuensis and to evaluate their effects on the control of cannibalism. Larvae (1.2 ± 0.15 mg and 5.9 ± 0.4 mm initial weight and total length) were fed Moina minuta (Mm), Macrothrix elegans (Me) or a mixture (50:50) of cladocerans (Mix) at a rate of 20 prey mL−1, once for 24 h. Another dorada larvae group were fed newly hatched larvae of Piaractus brachypomus (4.5 ± 0.9 mm) as forage larvae (FL) in a ratio of 2:1 (prey:predator). The larvae were stocked to 50 L−1 in aquaria with 5 L of useful volume (12 per treatment). The growth, survival, stress resistance, cannibalism mortality, and the number of prey in the gut contents were analyzed. Dorada larvae fed FL showed higher growth, but those fed Mm showed the highest survival rate (76.1 ± 6.6%) and the lowest cannibalism mortality (16.8 ± 3.7%) (p < 0.05). The use of the cladocerans allowed high survival and stress resistance (95.3 ± 2.4%), and M. minuta proved to be a suitable prey for cannibalism control in the management of the first feeding of dorada larvae.

Highlights

  • The rearing of fingerlings of dorada has advanced in the use of forage larvae with the first feeding management [2]; this method increases the production costs of fingerlings, so it is necessary to look for alternatives with zootechnical potential as an initial live food source for the production of fingerlings without the use of forage larvae

  • The presented the highest survival in contrast with fed the M. elegans

  • Thedistribution distributionand and availability of water column could be suggested to explain this difavailability of the thecladocerans cladoceransininthe the water column could be suggested to explain this ference

Read more

Summary

Introduction

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Most fish larvae require planktonic organisms as their first feed and record better growth and survival rates when fed these organisms rather than artificial diets [5,10,23,24,25,26] Several factors explain these results: the structure and digestibility of the protein, presence of exogenous enzymes, chemical stimuli, adequate size, and slow movements of the prey that facilitate its ingestion and digestion, characteristics that meet the requirements of the larva [27]. Another feature that justifies the use of cladocerans in fish larviculture is the predatory visual stimulus provided to larvae due to the natural motility of the plankton [28]. The study aimed to assess two species of cladocerans as prey during the onset of exogenous feeding of dorada and to evaluate their effects on the control of cannibalism

Materials and Methods
Survival
Mortality
Discussion
Full Text
Published version (Free)

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call