Effect of mixed and artificial feeding on the growth performance of Gattan Luciobarbus xanthopterus Heckel, 1843 larvae

This work aimed to study the rearing feasibility of Luciobarbus xanthopterus larvae using artificial and mixed (live (Chlorella sp.) + artificial) food and their effects on their growth performance during early development. Larvae (1.65 cm in length and 0.02 g weight) were obtained from a Marine Science Hatchery and cultured in indoor tanks for 35 days. the larvae fed mixed feed T1 and artificial feed T2 (fish meal + soybean meal). The results showed that the larvae of T1 treatment outperformed significantly in final length, final weight, final weight gain, daily and specific growth rate, which amounted to 3.44 cm, 0.3568 g, 0.3368 g, 0.0096 g/day, and 8.2185 % weight/day, respectively. Also, the results showed that larvae fed on T1 grew faster. The present study showed that applying a mixture of artificial and live food after four weeks age i.e. after absorption of the yolk sac for feeding larvae can reduce the costs of producing and providing better growth and survival rates.