Abstract

MARCIALES-CARO, Lili J; DIAZ-OLARTE, John J; MEDINA- ROBLES, Víctor M  and  CRUZ-CASALLAS, Pablo E. Growth and survivability of bagre rayado (Pseudoplatystoma fasciatum; Linneaus, 1766) larvae fed live feed enriched with fatty acids. Rev Colom Cienc Pecua [online]. 2010, vol.23, n.3, pp.308-316. ISSN 0120-0690.

The larval stages of Catfish require an adequate provision of feed to meet its nutritional requirements. Native zooplankton enriched with fatty acids has been used as live feed to achieve this objective. However, this feed should be evaluated for each particular species. Therefore, this study evaluated growth and survival of Bagre rayado (Pseudoplatystoma fasciatum) larvae fed live feed enriched with fatty acids. Bagre rayado larvae were obtained by artificial reproduction. Larvae were fed four times per day during 15 days. Live feed consisted of Artemia nauplii and native zooplankton (Diaphanosoma sp. and Moina sp.) non-enriched or enriched with a mixture containing 20% canola oil emulsion, 7% soya lecithin, and 73% distilled water. Dietary treatments were: T1 (non-enriched Artemia), T2 (enriched Artemia), T3 (non-enriched cladocerans), and T4 (enriched cladocerans). The highest weight gain and size were observed for T1 (91.9 ± 13.6 mg and 17.3 ± 1.1 mm, respectively), while the lowest were for T4 (20.3 ± 2.5 mg and 9.9 ± 0.5 mm, respectively). Nevertheless, the highest survival rates were observed for larvae fed enriched and non-enriched cladocerans (58.8 ± 3.2 and 63.1 ± 6.4%, respectively) in comparison with Artemia and enriched Artemia (42.1 ± 9.3 and 49.8 ± 5.2%, respectively). In conclusion, native zooplankton increased larval survival, although growth rates were lower than those obtained with Artemia.

Keywords : enrichment; first feeding; Pseudoplatystoma fasciatum; survival; zooplankton.