Haematococcus pluvialis biomass as a replacement for fish meal in the diet of Macrobrachium amazonicum post-larvae (Heller, 1862)

Abstract

The current study evaluates the effect of partial or total replacement of fish meal with Haematococcus pluvialis microalgae, cultivated in an NPK culture medium, on the growth performance of Macrobrachion amazonicum shrimp post-larvae. Four diets were formulated: control (without microalgae), 25, 50 and 100% H. pluvialis replacement. Only crude protein weight gain showed no interaction and was not selected for principal components analysis. The 25% fishmeal replacement in the diet was not effective, being similar to the control. However, the complete replacement of fishmeal with H. pluvialis promoted elevated survivability, length, weight and protein retention, making it the most relevant treatment for M. amazonicum post-larvae. Therefore, it is possible to completely replace fishmeal with the microalgae H. pluvialis in the diet of M. amazonicum shrimp, which improves growth performance.