EFFECT OF DHA, EPA AND ARA ENRICHED LIVE FEED ON GROWTH AND SURVIVAL IN EARLY LIFE STAGES OF Etroplus suratensis (BLOCH, 1790)

Naveen Raj Manickavel¹*, S. Felix¹** and S. Aruna¹
¹Tamil Nadu Dr. J. Jayalalithaa Fisheries University, Nagapattianam, Tamil Nadu, India
^1**Corresponding Author mail ID: felix@tnfu.ac.in ; Ph No: 9443131025
^1*Presenting Author mail ID: soudarnaveen@gmail.com ; Ph No: 9994044398

The role of dietary ratios of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6n - 3), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 20:5n - 3) and arachidonic acid (ARA, 20,4n -

6) on early growth and survival of pearl spot larvae was studied. Rotifers were enriched with lipid emulsion containing nine different percentage of PUFA (DHA - 5%, 10%, 15%, of total fatty acids, EPA - 5%, 10%, 15%, of total fatty acids, ARA - 5%, 10%, 15% of total fatty acids). And control emulsion containing only olive oil (no DHA, EPA and ARA). Larvae were fed differently enriched rotifers thrice a day. At the end of 15 days of feeding the larvae fed with 10% DHA inclusion diet were significantly shows higher weight gain (20.5^ab±0.50mg), followed by 5%EPA inclusion (20.3^ab±0.33 mg) and 5%ARA inclusion(20.1^ab±0.16 mg). The maximum survival rate (100^a±0.00%) was obtained in treatments T2 (10% DHA), T4 (5% EPA) and T7 (5% ARA). Hence the present study could draw a conclusion that the inclusion level of (10%) DHA, (5%) EPA, (5%) ARA was optimum for pearl spot. The (10%) DHA, (5%) EPA, (5%) ARA inclusion level was chosen to achieve the better growth and survival showed a highly significant difference among the treatments (p<0.05).