Survival of Larval Giant Tiger PrawnsPenaeus monodonafter Addition of Killed Vibrio Cells to a Microencapsulated Diet

Abstract

Abstract Feeding trials were conducted with microencapsulated test diets supplemented with formalinkilled vibrio cells to increase the number of survivors and to improve the quality of larvae in an early developmental stage of the giant tiger prawn Penaeus monodon. Vibrio cells were added at a level of 0.05, 0.5, or 5%, and the mixture was encapsulated with gelatin by a spray-dry method. Larvae at the zoeal stage were fed the test diet for four consecutive days. The survival of larvae as a percentage of initial larvae was higher in the groups fed bacterial cells than in the control group (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05).