Survival strategies in early life stages of marine resources: Edited by Y. Watanabe, Y. Yamashita and Y. Oozeki; A.A. Balkema, Rotterdam, 1996; 367 pp.; Hfl. 174.90; ISBN 90-5410-637-9

Abstract

A feeding experiment was carried out to investigate the influence of the eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 20:5n − 3) to docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6n − 3) ratio (EPADHA) on 17-day-old Sparus aurata larval development. Larvae were fed rotifers (Brachionus plicatilis) enriched with four different lipid emulsions containing the same amount of total n − 3 highly unsaturated fatty acids (n − 3 HUFA) but different EPADHA ratios. The different EPADHA ratios of the emulsions gave rise to different ratios in the enriched rotifers. Furthermore, increments of the EPADHA ratio in rotifers produced a decrease in larval growth performance, so that larvae fed rotifers containing the highest EPADHA ratio showed the poorest growth rate. The analysis of fatty acids from larvae showed that there was a significant linear relationship between EPADHA ratio in their total polar lipids (TPL) and larval growth. At the same time, when the EPADHA ratio increased in rotifers, there was an increase in total n − 3 HUFA in larvae total neutral lipid (TNL), which was mainly due to the accumulation of EPA.Results obtained in the present study suggest that for the same level of total n − 3 HUFA, larval growth performance can be improved by a decrease in EPADHA ratio in rotifers, indicating the importance of DHA during the first days of S. aurata larval development.