A method of estimation of enzymatic activity of copepods
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| Keywords |
Developmental stages > Larvae > Invertebrate larvae > Crustacean larvae
Live feed
Copepoda [WoRMS]
Marine/Coastal |
| Author keywords |
Copepods, Marine Fish Farming |
| Authors | | Top |
- Jayalakshmi, T.
- Santhanam, P.
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| Abstract |
Nutrition is extremely important to any sector of commercial animal production, especially fish and crustacean larviculture. Different types of diets are available, and live feed plays a key role in the growth of many aquatic animals. The main problem in most marine fish farming is the high mortality rate associated with the initial feeding of larvae (Garcia-Ortega et al. 2000). For many fish species, live feed yields better results in terms of growth and survival when compared to fish fed with artificial diets (Dabrowski 1984). In fact, the commercial production of fish and crustacean larvae, postlarvae, and juveniles depends on the supply of live prey, mainly the rotifers Brachionus sp. and nauplii of Artemia (Kolkoviski 2001; Koven et al. 2001; Sorgeloos et al. 2001). Although these animals offer low nutritional value, their production is relatively easy, and this ensures their predominance as live prey (Støttrup 2000). Copepods could be an alternative to this problem. They are recognized as an important source of nutrients, and they are underused in the aquaculture because brine shrimp offers the advantage of storage in their cysts of resistance (Drillet et al. 2006). Copepods are promising candidates for large-scale aquaculture as live feed for fish and crustacean larvae (Lima and Souza-Santos 2007; Olivotto et al. 2008a, b) because the digestion of food in the early stages of fish and shrimp growth can be improved by a set of enzymes that are synthesized in the midgut region of copepods (Brunet 1994). |
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