Response of bighead carpAristichthys nobilisand Asian catfishClarias macrocephaluslarvae to free-living nematodePanagrellus redivivusas alternative feed

Abstract

Summary The use of Panagrellus redivivus as live feed for bighead carp and Asian catfish larvae was tested. In experiment 1, carp larvae were given Artemia nauplii (control) or Panagrellus twice daily for 21 days. A third treatment consisted of unfed larvae. The same three treatments were used in experiment 2 plus another with a commercial entomopathogenic nematode (EPN). Bighead carp larvae given Panagrellus in experiment 1 had much lower growth and survival than those fed Artemia nauplii. This could be due to low nematode density (5–30 mL−1 water) during feeding. The unfed larvae had 100% mortality by days 11–13. In experiment 2, growth and survival of carp larvae given Artemia nauplii (5–10 mL−1) and Panagrellus (50 mL−1) did not differ significantly (P > 0.05). All unfed larvae had died by day 13, while larvae fed EPN were all dead by day 8. Two experiments on Asian catfish were likewise conducted. In experiment 1, the catfish larvae were fed Tubifex (ad libitum), Panagrellus (50–100 mL−1 per feeding) orArtemia (5 nauplii mL−1 per feeding) three times daily for 14 days. In experiment 2, larvae were fed Artemia alone (10 nauplii mL−1 per feeding), Panagrellus alone (100 mL−1 per feeding), or their combination with a 38% protein dry diet twice daily. For both experiments, catfish larvae fed Panagrellus had significantly lower growth and survival than those fed Tubifex or Artemia. The combination of Panagrellus and dry diet created little improvement in the growth and survival of catfish larvae.

Growth and survival of grouper Epinephelus coioides (Hamilton) larvae fed free-living nematode Panagrellus redivivus at first feeding

“…The mouth Row means ± (SE) followed by a common superscripts are not significantly different at P [ 0.05 Int (2011) 19:155-164 161 of E. coioides larvae at first feeding when wide open is 180 lm (Duray 1994) slightly larger than the nematodes used for the feeding experiment, and the slow motility of the nematodes would be easier for the larvae to capture its prey. Optimum feeding density of nematodes at 75 mL -1 for the grouper larvae to survive at first feeding was slightly lower compared to 100 nematodes mL -1 determined in carp fry (Santiago et al 2003). These species difference could be related to the mouth size difference of the larvae, stocking rates and the size of the tanks.…”

“…Free-living nematode, Panagrellus spp., is acceptable to some aquarium fish and various carp species (Kahan and Appel 1975;Hofsten et al 1983, Rottman et al 1991. Panagrellus redivivus, in particular, has been tested in larval shrimps (Beidenbach et al 1989;Kumlu and Fletcher 1997) and bighead carp and Asian catfish larvae (Santiago et al 2003). P. redivivus is a desirable live food for marine fish larvae because of its high reproductive rate (Cryan et al 1963) and small size (50 lm up to 1.5 mm in total length).…”

Effect of nematode Panagrellus redivivus density on growth, survival, feed consumption and carcass composition of bighead carp Aristichthys nobilis (Richardson) larvae

“…The free‐living nematode P. redivivus was cultured in Petri dishes under laboratory conditions using finely ground oatmeal medium placed in a smaller Petri dish (90 mm diameter) which in turn was placed in a larger Petri dish (141 mm diameter) with cover (Santiago et al., 2003). Water was placed in the larger dish up to the level of the oatmeal medium in the smaller dish.…”

“…Free‐living nematodes were fed to the bighead carp at varying densities during each feeding: 50, 75, 100, 125 and 150 per ml of larval rearing water. Lower densities were not tested because a previous study showed improved performance of bighead carp larvae fed nematodes at 50 ml −1 feeding density compared with 5–30 ml −1 (Santiago et al., 2003). Feeding was carried out twice daily at 09.00 and 14.00 hours for 21 days.…”

“…Panagrellus redivivus in particular has been successfully tested in larval shrimps (Biedenbach et al., 1989; Kumlu and Fletcher, 1997; Kumlu et al., 1998) and river catfish (Laron et al., 2001). Furthermore, P. redivivus has been shown to be highly acceptable to bighead carp A. nobilis larvae (Santiago et al., 2003). Thus, the present study was conducted to determine the optimum nematode density in feeding the carp larvae.…”