Enrichment of Dioithonarigida (Giesberch, 1896) with different microalgal diets and its effect on survival and growth of Latescalcarifer (Bloch, 1790) larvae

Copepods are vital key components of marine and freshwater ecosystems and play an important role in the transfer of energy from primary producers to secondary producers and consumers. The optimization of feeding copepods with the desired diet is essential to culture them in large quantities. Hence, this study aimed to investigate the high-density production of a marine copepod, Dioithona rigida using different microalgal diets and evaluate the growth and survival of marine finfish larvae (Asian seabass), Lates calcarifer. The high-density culture was observed in D. rigida fed a mixed diet (50:50) of C. vulgaris and N. oculata, which reached a population density of 22500±2523 ind./L on the 21st day culture period. Essential fatty acids like Linolenic acid and Docosahexaenoic acid show significantly higher percentages in copepods fed a mixed algal diet than those fed with mono algal diet. About the larval rearing experiment of L. calcarifer, the larvae fed D. rigida enriched with a 50:50 mixed diet of C. vulgaris and N. oculata showed faster growth (Length 17.2±0.34mm; Weight 25.4±0.38mg) and highest survival (90%) compared to the other experimental group. This indicates mixed algal diet is more suitable for culturing the aquaculture live feeds for copepods.