DEVELOPMENT OF HATCHERY FEEDING PROTOCOLS FOR Macrobrachium rosenbergii REPLACING Artemia NAUPLII AND TRADITIONAL SUPPLEMENTAL FEEDS WITH COMMERCIAL LIQUID AND DRY MICROPARTICULATE DIETS

Larval rearing of Macrobrachium rosenbergii has traditionally been based feeding of Artemia nauplii supplemented with a variety of inert feeds, including egg custard, ground fish and ground shellfish.   The global supply of Artemia cysts has not been able to keep up with the rapidly growing demand.  The limited availability, variable quality and increasing cost of Artemia is driving the need for alternatives for hatchery production of both freshwater and marine shrimp. Supplemental feeds like egg custard and ground shellfish have numerous drawbacks including highly variable particle size, inconsistent nutritional composition, potential bacterial contamination, and detrimental impacts on water quality.  Previous efforts to replace Artemia nauplii and traditional supplemental diets have met with limited success.

Langostinos Koko, the largest Macrobrachium hatchery in Central America, collaborated with Zeigler Bros., Inc., a commercial feed company that specializes in the manufacture feeds for all stages marine shrimp, to develop and test Macrobrachium larval feeding protocols designed to replace Artemia nauplii and traditional supplemental diets. Artemia nauplii were replaced with EZ Artemia, a liquid artemia replacement diet containing micro-capsulated feed particles ranging in size from 50-200 µm or 300-600 µm .  Traditional supplemental diets were replaced with a combination of liquid microcapsulated diets (EZ Larva) and dry microparticulate diets (AP 100 and Raceway Plus).  The feed trials were carried out in 1 m³ and 3 m³ larval rearing tanks.  Water quality in the larval tanks is maintained by recirculating the water through filtration system consisting of a protein skimmer and a biofilter.  A comparison of larval development rates, survival rates, and the results of economic value between traditional feed protocols and the experimental protocols will be presented.