Meagre (Argyrosomus regius) is considered an interesting species for the diversification of Mediterranean aquaculture and, mainly due, to its fast growing capacity and to its processing potential, it is known by many as the “salmon of the south”. Additionally, meagre is a species easily adapted to captivity and well-known by the consumers, presenting a high commercial value, making it an interesting species for aquaculture production.
At the Aquaculture Research Station of Olhão (EPPO), an aquaculture facility from the Portuguese Institute for the Ocean and Atmosphere (IPMA) dedicated to perform pre-industrial studies, several trials have been conducted to address questions related to meagre rearing and along the years one of the most common question raised was which is the best rearing temperature for meagre. Although the normal spawning temperature rounds the 20ºC, the optimal rearing temperature, to enhance larvae and juvenile growth, seems to be situated a couple degrees above, which makes meagre a suitable species to grow in recirculation systems (RAS), at higher and controlled temperatures. This issue is particularly important in the context of the foundation of the S2AQUAcoLAB (in 2021), a collaborative laboratory, that brings together research and industry partners, with the main objective of fostering the development of the aquaculture sector in Portugal and which has, among several other areas of research, interest in the implementation and optimization of recirculation culture systems.
In this work we present the results of several trials performed to determine the better growing temperature for meagre larvae and juveniles, which for larvae is around 22 and for early juveniles is located between 24 and 28ºC. Fish presented a higher size dispersion when grown at higher temperatures, but the incidence of skeletal malformations decreased when compared with the lower temperatures. In order to have more detailed information on the physiological and biochemical performance of the fish, methodologies such as histology to determine the onset of main organs and gene expression to evaluate growth-related genes were performed.
This study had the support of the project DIVERSIAQUA II (Mar2020-P02M01-0656P)