Organisms Suitable as Food for Larvae of Black Sea Bream

Abstract

Abstract Different organisms were tested as food for larvae of the black sea bream (Mylio macrocephalus): rotifers (Brachionus plicatilus) cultured on Chlorella; rotifers cultured on baking yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae); nauplii of the brine shrimp (Artemia salina); and the copepod Tigriopus japonicus. Black sea bream larvae were 20 days old at the beginning of the 18-day test period; surviving test groups were held for an additional 12-day feeding period. The suitability of brine shrimp nauplii to the larvae appeared to be limited; mortality began after the larvae had been fed Anemia nauplii for 7 days. No mass mortality was observed in either of the rotifer-fed groups; however, larvae fed yeast-cultured rotifers grew more slowly and appeared to be weaker than those fed on Chlorella-cultured rotifers. Chlorella-cultured rotifers were the most suitable of the test foods for larvae less than 10.7 mm in fork length, whereas Tigriopus was the most suitable for larvae larger than 10.7 mm. Larvae fed on Tigriopus grew significantly faster than those fed on other organisms.