Evaluation of larviculture protocols for the Pacific blue tang (Paracanthurus hepatus)

First feeding of a marine ornamental fish, the White‐barred Goby Amblygobius phalaena: Investigating the optimal initial live feed organisms and optimal feeding density

“…Experiment 2: Effects of different oyster trochophore feeding densities on the feeding incidence and feeding intensity of larval White-barred Goby Based on the findings from experiment 1, Portuguese oyster trochophores were selected as the live prey for experiment 2 and the aim was to investigate the optimal feeding density. To evaluate the feeding conditions, we referred to the studies conducted by Pereira-Davison and and Sowaske et al (2023), which used feeding incidence and feeding intensity as indicators. The experimental conditions in this study remained consistent with those described previously.…”

“…Feeding incidence (%) = feeding larvae sampled larvae × 100 (Pereira-Davison and Callan 2018; Sowaske et al 2023). Feeding intensity was calculated as the number of oyster trochophores ingested per feeding larva (modified from Degidio et al 2017).…”

“…The collection of specific organisms from coral reef environments has been linked to declines in coral reef biodiversity (Hughes et al 2007;Carvalho et al 2022). In recent years, the aquaculture of marine ornamental fish has been recognized as one of the sustainable approaches to support the industry, providing an alternative to wild capture and reducing human impacts on coral reef habitats (Chen et al 2020;Sowaske et al 2023).…”

“…Various marine ornamental fish species, such as clownfishes (Olivotto et al 2008), gobies (Majoris et al 2018;Chiu et al 2019), and blennies (Moorhead and Zeng 2011;, have been successfully raised using rotifers as their initial live prey. However, some species with tiny mouth sizes, such as the Dwarf Hawkfish Cirrhitichthys falco (Chiu and Leu 2021), Milletseed Butterflyfish Chaetodon miliaris (Degidio et al 2017), surgeonfishes (DiMaggio et al 2017Callan et al 2018;Sowaske et al 2023), and wrasses (Groover et al 2021;Leu et al 2022), are not suitable for feeding on rotifers (size = 100-250 μm). Therefore, in recent years, scientists have explored the use of various emerging, tiny (size = 60-80 μm) live feed organisms as initial prey to rear smaller-mouthed species.…”

“…Therefore, in recent years, scientists have explored the use of various emerging, tiny (size = 60-80 μm) live feed organisms as initial prey to rear smaller-mouthed species. These include fertilized oyster eggs, oyster trochophores, ciliated protists, or copepod nauplii (Tarangkoon et al 2018;Basford et al 2019;Sowaske et al 2023).…”