Balancing between Artemia and microdiet usage for normal skeletal development in zebrafish (Danio rerio)

Abstract

Targeting in zebrafish fast growth, high survival rates and improved reproductive performance has led over the last years in variable feeding regimes between different facilities. Despite its significance on fish function and welfare, normal skeletal development has rarely been evaluated in establishing the best feeding practices for zebrafish. The aim of this study was to establish a protocol for normal skeletal development, growth and survival of zebrafish larvae through live feed‐to‐microdiet transition at an appropriate rate. Four feeding regimes including feeding exclusively on Artemia nauplii (A) or dry microdiet (D), and feeding on both Artemia and microdiet at two different transition rates (slow (B) or fast (C)) were applied from 5 to 24 dpf (days post‐fertilization). Results demonstrated a significant effect of feeding regimes on the incidence of skeletal abnormalities (gill cover, fins and vertebral column, p < .05) in zebrafish larvae. The A and B experimental groups presented the highest (88 ± 3 and 84 ± 17%, respectively), but the C and D the lowest (18 ± 14 and 11 ± 2%, respectively), rates of normal fish (fish without any abnormality). Similarly, growth rate was comparatively elevated in A and B groups. No significant differences were observed in fish survival between A, B and C groups. However, D group presented a significantly lower survival rate. To our knowledge, this is the first study to show that the live feed‐to‐microdiet transition rate influences larval growth, survival and abnormality rates in a non‐homogenous pattern.

Breaking the mold: The first report on germ-free adult marine medaka (Oryzias melastigma) models

“…Live food products such as Artemia serve as vectors for delivering compounds of diverse nutritions for larval stages of aquatic animals and are the most important factors influencing the survival rate and growth from the early larval to the juvenile stages, when many digestive enzymes are secreted before feeding but with relatively weak activities (33,34). Among the common feeds, the Artemia nauplii as the biological feed providing exogenous digestive enzymes and a high abundance of nutrients for fish larvae, are the most suitable live feed compared to cooked egg yolk and micro-particle feed; and the nauplii are essential for good growth and development, resistance to disease, and reproduction performance (35)(36)(37). Due to the absence of a microbiome and the defects in digestive and immune systems, studies on GF fish models have been limited to the early life stages in which depended on the yolk energy supply without eating, such as in GF zebrafish with innate immunity before 7 dpf (22).…”

Variability of key-performance-indicators in commercial gilthead seabream hatcheries

“…Gill-cover abnormalities have been shown to develop in many different fish species under experimental or commercial hatchery conditions 24 , 27 . The existing literature shows that their development may be induced by suboptimal levels of vitamin A ( S. aurata 14 , Dicentrarchus labrax 40 ), EFA, DHA and vitamin C ( Chanos chanos 41 , 42 ) in the larval diet, as well as by water temperature during the larval rearing phase ( S. aurata 38 ), or an early shift from live feed to compound diet (laboratory fish, Danio rerio 16 ). Similarly, literature on the causative factors of pugheadedness in reared fish indicates the dietary levels of vitamin A ( S. aurata 14 ) and of n-3 PUFA (EPA, DHA) during the larval phase 40 , 43 ( D. labrax 44 ) as critical.…”

“…Currently a variety of nutritional components during the larval period (e.g. fatty acids 13 , vitamins 14 , 15 , weaning method 16 ), abiotic parameters (e.g. water temperature 17 , tank color 18 , hypoxia and hypercapnia 19 ), the intensity of the rearing methodology 20 , 21 and genetic background 9 , 22 , 23 have been shown to play a significant role in the development of skeletal abnormalities in reared fish (see Boglione et al 24 for a thorough review).…”

Effect of Early Peptide Diets on Zebrafish Skeletal Development

“…Appearance of skeletal deformities, either as distortions of the normal developmental processes (e.g., embryonic and larval stages [ 2 , 3 ]) or as deformations of initially normally developed bones (e.g., post-larval stages [ 4 , 5 ]) is correlated with reduced growth, survival, morphological quality and disrupted general performance (e.g., swimming, susceptibility to diseases [ 6 ]). Being a valuable welfare index for both aquaculture and laboratory animals [ 7 , 8 ], skeletal abnormalities appearance entails the quality of the experimental results and, inevitably, the marketability of the aquaculture products.…”