Aquaculture 2022

February 28 - March 4, 2022

San Diego, California

DIETARY IMPACT OF FLORIDA POMPANO Trachinotus carolinus BROODSTOCK ON EGG AND LARVAE QUALITY AND DEVELOPMENT

Li Sun Chin*, David Bradshaw, Paul Wills, Chris Robinson, Victoria Uribe, Sahar Mejri

 

Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute

5600 US 1 North

Fort Pierce, FL 34946

Email : lchin2021@fau.edu

 



Obtaining consistent and high egg quality is often a challenge that is faced in marine fish broodstock . A maternal diet that contains an optimum amount of lipids and fatty acid composition is essential for successful reproduction and healthy offspring. A high quality broodstock diet can improve egg hatch rates, ensure healthy development, and decrease offspring mortality. The aim of this experiment is to use commercially available broodstock diets to determine broodstock reproductive performance and offspring quality. There will be two dietary treatments tested on four experimental broodstock tanks that contain 4 female and 3 male broodstock Florida Pompano, Trachinotus carolinus, each. Two tanks will be fed with a commercial diet (Vitalis, Zeigler) and two tanks will be fed with a Breed M gel diet. A control treatment will be fish fed with cut bait diet (n = 4). The spawning season will last a total of six months where the fish will be induced to spawn three times; once every two months. Egg and  larvae samples from each spawn will be collected for histology, biochemistry, and proteomics analysis, where essential fatty acid, amino acid composition, and proteomics will be determined. Larvae samples from each tank will be collected once a day before onset of exogenous feeding and then once every two days until the weaning stage (16-18 dph) when the experiment will end.  This study aims to provide a greater understanding and insight into the nutritional dietary needs of broodstock pompano. This will consequently contribute towards a more reliable and steady supply of high-quality seed stock and juvenile pompano with the most optimal traits, further improving its economic viability as a staple aquaculture species.