Effects of temperature on the intensive culture performance of larval and juvenile North American burbot (Lota lota maculosa)

Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of temperature on growth and survival of larval and juvenile burbot, Lota lota maculosa. Burbot aquaculture is developing primarily in response to declining wild stocks and a need to restore such populations. Beyond conservation efforts, there is also potential to culture this species commercially. However, many important aspects of burbot culture remain unaddressed. In this study larval and juvenile burbot were reared at three constant water temperatures (10, 15, and 20°C) in an intensive culture setting. Two 30 day trials were conducted during the larval life stage and one 60 day trial during the juvenile life stage. In Trial 1, larval burbot (mean total length ± SD, 6.9 ± 1.0 mm, approximately 65 days post hatch) reared at 20°C grew the fastest, while growth was lowest in the 10°C treatment. Survival was inversely related to temperature, with the lowest average of 6.6% observed in larvae reared at 20°C. The percentage cannibalized was quantified and found to be positively correlated with water temperature, and reached 58.0% in larvae reared at 20°C. In Trial 2, as larvae approached metamorphosis (12.9 ± 1.9 mm, approximately 100 days post hatch), growth was also highest in fish at 20°C and lowest in those at 10°C. At this stage survival was higher in fish at lower temperatures, but the percentage cannibalized appeared independent of temperature, averaging over 50% in fish at all temperatures. In Trial 3, growth of juveniles (59.9 ± 12.4 mm, approximately 205 days post hatch) reared at 15 and 20°C was not significantly different, yet both displayed significantly increased growth relative to juveniles reared at 10°C. Juveniles were fully transitioned to a dry diet, and survival averaged > 93% in all culture temperatures. The percentage cannibalized during this life stage averaged b 5%, and was not affected by temperature. This study demonstrated the importance of water temperature, as it clearly affects culture performance of larval and juvenile burbot. Results from this study have implications for maximizing growth during larval and juvenile life stages of this species, and provide a comparative, empirical framework for establishing conservation, or commercial aquaculture programs for burbot.

Intracohort cannibalism and methods for its mitigation in cultured freshwater fish

“…Pikeperch larvae behave similarly (Zakęś 2012), although in burbot (Lota lota) the impact of higher temperature on an increase in cannibalistic incidents has only been reported for larval and juvenile developmental stages and the relationship with temperature has not been examined (Barron et al 2012). Pike larvae behave the opposite; the lowest losses due to cannibalistic behaviour have been observed at the highest temperatures investigated (28°C) (Szczepkowski 2009).…”

“…Environmental temperature has an enormous impact on the metabolic rate in fish, which rises with increasing water temperature (Baras and Jobling 2002;Barron et al 2012;Frisk et al 2012). For most fish species, this results in an increased demand for food, faster depletion of food resources, marked heterogeneity of larvae and, as a result, in potential cannibalistic behaviour (Sunde et al 1998;Baras and Jobling 2002;Kestemont et al 2003;Zakęś 2012).…”

Effect of water temperature and prey concentrations on initial development of Lophiosilurus alexandri Steindachner, 1876 (Siluriformes: Pseudopimelodidae), a freshwater fish

“…Temperature is a critical factor that influences fish during the development of the embryos and larvae (Baras et al, 2011;Barron et al, 2012). This variable and prey concentrations were key factors during the early development of the carnivorous larvae of L. alexandri.…”

“…Water temperature is one of the main abiotic factors that influence the ontogenetic development of fish (Kamler, 2008;Teletchea et al, 2009;Barron et al, 2012;Wen et al, 2013). Temperature affects the growth (Johnston, 2006), survival (Keckeis et al, 2001;Hansen & Falk-Petersen, 2002), metabolism (Conceição et al, 1998;Wen et al, 2013) and behaviour of fish species (Rijnsdorp et al, 2009).…”

Food selection of burbot (Lota lota L.) larvae reared in illuminated net cages in mesotrophic Lake Maróz (north-eastern Poland)

“…Currently, the fish has gained an increasing interest from the environmental and economic perspective (Kujawa et al 2002), which has resulted in the development of controlled larval rearing procedures that will ensure production of sufficient material for stock enhancement. This applies to both reproductive biotechnology (Kujawa et al 2002;Kucharczyk et al 2004;Ż arski et al 2010) and the initial rearing of larvae under controlled conditions (Wolnicki et al 2001(Wolnicki et al , 2002Kujawa et al 2002;Shiri Harzevili et al 2003Ż arski et al 2009;Barron et al 2012;Wocher et al 2013).…”