Enrichment of live food with essential fatty acids and vitamin C: effects on milkfish (Chanos chanos) larval performance

Abstract

The effects of essential fatty acids (EFA) and vitamin C-enriched live food on growth, survival, resistance to salinity stress and incidence of deformity in milkfish larvae reared in tanks were investigated. Larvae were either fed rotifers cultured on Chlorella sp. and newly hatched Artemia nauplii (control), highly unsaturated fatty acid (HUFA)-enriched rotifers and Artemia nauplii or HUFA+vitamin C-enriched rotifers and Artemia nauplii. Milkfish growth in outdoor nursery ponds was also assessed to compare with growth in indoor tanks. Milkfish fed rotifers/Artemia enriched with HUFA (32–48 mg dry weight, DW) or HUFA+vitamin C (33–45 mg DW) exhibited significantly (P<0.05) higher growth than those given unenriched live food (24–27 mg DW) after 40 days of culture. Growth of milkfish in nursery ponds (albeit lower in stocking density) showed similar trends as those reared in tanks. When subjected to salinity stress (Day 25), mortality of the HUFA+vitamin C-treated fish and HUFA-treated fish were significantly lower (P<0.05) than the control fish. Survival of 26-day old milkfish, however, did not differ significantly (P>0.05) among the treatment groups. Forty-day-old milkfish fed HUFA+vitamin C-enriched live food had significantly lower (P<0.05) incidence of opercular deformity (mainly cleft branchiostegal membrane) (8.4–14.7%) compared with those given HUFA-enriched (15.8–23.5%) or unenriched (27.3–33.5%) live food. Results demonstrated the effect of HUFA enrichment in enhancing milkfish larval growth and resistance to salinity stress but not overall survival. Moreover, HUFA and ascorbate supplementation decreased but did not totally eliminate incidence of opercular deformity in milkfish larvae.