Ultra‐diluted bioactive compounds enhance energy storage and oocyte quality during gonad conditioning of Pacific calico scallop Argopecten ventricosus (Sowerby II, 1842)

Abstract

Ultra-diluted bioactive compounds have emerged as an alternative to enhance marine organism performance and to improve broodstock gonad maturation. This study evaluated for the first time the effect of three homeopathically ultra-diluted bioactive compounds (HUBC’s) authorized by the health authority as medicines for humans, on the general reproductive physiology of Argopecten ventricosus, a commercially important scallop species. The experiment included three HUBC’s treatments at centesimal dilution assessed in triplicate under laboratory conditions, T1: PaV-30C + PhA-30C, T2: PaV-30C + SiT-30C, and T3: ViT-30C, and a non-treated field reference group (FRG) maintained in aquaculture facilities as reference. The bioenergetics of scallop reproduction and oocyte quality increased with the three HUBC treatments, but particularly in those treated with T2. The organisms treated with T3 showed not only the highest proliferation of vitellogenic and post-vitellogenic oocytes but also the greatest oxidative damage in tissues and oocytes. In contrast, the scallops from T1 and T2 showed less oxidative damage. The results suggest that ultra-diluted formula T2 is a potential alternative to optimize A. ventricosus gonad ripening, food-nutrient management and oocyte quality because although T3 allowed accelerating the gametogenesis process, it increased oxidative damage. This study could help to improve gonad broodstock condition and larval yield of this species in hatcheries.