OUTDOOR CONTINUOUS CULTURE SYSTEM BASED MASS PRODUCTION TECHNIQUE FOR CLADOCERANS (Moina micrura)

Appropriate live feed is necessary in larval rearing of commercially of important species due to their small size, fragile nature, and nutritional quality as well as small mouth gap, partially developed receptors and digestive system of larvae. Considering the importance of zooplankton as live feed,present study reports mass production of freshwater Cladocerans (Moina micrura)using micro algae (Chlorella vulgaris )as food. Stock culture of Moina micrura was prepared by collecting samples from wild and segregated following the pipette-method which then allowed for growing in 1L capacity plastic bottles fed with Baker's yeast for 5 days. Mass production of M. micrura was carried out in outdoor cement cistern tanks (1000L capacity) which fertilized using ground nut oil cake (250g), urea (10g) and single super phosphate (5g) and inoculated with C. vulgaris on the same day. Cladocerans were continuously fed with Cultured C. vulgaris at the intervals of 2x and 3x per day. The high density of population was attained with 3x feeding interval of Chlorella sp. (35-40 individuals/ml), followed by 2x (20-30 individuals/ml). The low density of population was recorded in control (5-12 individuals/ml) in which feeding was not practiced. Out-door tanks were re-fertilized fortnightly to maintain the plankton production. The peak density population growth was found on 5^th day for Chlorella vulgaris (50000 cells/ml) and on 8 for Cladocerans (40 individuals/ml). This study indicated that both the quantity and quality of food have significant role on mass production of Cladocerans in aquaculture.

Key word: Cladocerans, mass production, live feed.