Overview of diets used in larviculture of three Caribbean Conchs: Queen Conch Strombus gigas, Milk Conch Strombus costatus and Fighting Conch Strombus pugilis

Abstract

The genus Strombus is widely distributed in the Caribbean. Six species are of commercial importance: S. gigas, S. raninus, S. costatus, S. alatus, S. gallus and S. pugilis. Economically, the Queen conch, S. gigas is the most important and consequently the most widely studied. However, since 1970 a decline of S. gigas populations due to over-fishing has been observed. Many authors have studied S. gigas hatchery rearing techniques in order to address this problem; however, for these hatchery techniques to be successful, an adequate diet must be provided for the larvae. Some information of the nutritional requirements of S. gigas larvae have been reported since 1965, but a nutritionally complete diet is still not available. In this work we summarize the different diets that have been used for S. gigas, S. costatus and S. pugilis larvae rearing. Twenty one different algae species have been used: Amphidinium carteri, Chaetoceros gracilis, Dunaliella tertiolecta, Emillania huxleyi, Heterocapsa pygmacea, Isochrysis (Caicos), Isochrysis (Tahiti), Isochrysis sp., Monochrysis sp., Nannochloris, Nitzchia, Platymonas sp., P. tetraselmis, Prorocentrum minimun, Rhodomonas sp. , Skeletonema costatus, Tetraselmis chuii, Tetraselmis sp., T. suecica, Thalassiosira fluviatilis and T. weissflogii. There are other diets that have seldom been studied with Strombus veliger larvae, that could be a potential food source for these gastropods. The type and concentration of algae, larval rearing conditions are summarized along with the results attained in larval growth, metamorphosis, survival, ingestion and digestion rates.