Use of commercial live feeds enrichment during first feeding period of the barber goby Elacatinus figaro

Abstract

The first feeding period is the most critical phase for the production of marine fish larvae. The utilization of n-3 HUFA enrichment on live feed has improved the results for several species during the larviculture. To evaluate the effect of n-3 HUFA enrichment on survival and growth of the barber goby Elacatinus figaro Sazima, Moura & Rosa, 1997, newly hatched larvae were divided in two experimental groups(200 larvae per group, with two replicates each). One group was fed on non-enriched rotifers Brachionus plicatilis and the other group was fed with n-3 HUFA enriched rotifers. After 14 days of experiment, survival of larvae fed n-3 HUFA enriched rotifers was three times higher (35.7 ± 3.1%) than those fed non-enriched rotifers (11.1 ± 5.2 %), however this difference was not significant. Growth was faster for larvae fed n-3 HUFA enriched rotifers after the first week of life, but at the end of 14 days, it was no longer significantly different between the two groups(6.09 ± 0.62 and 5.69 ± 0.66 mm). The results of this experiment suggest that barber goby should be fed n-3 HUFA enriched rotifer in order to maximize juvenile production.