LARVAL SMALLMOUTH GRUNT Haemulon chrysargyreum FEED SURVIVORSHIP AND GROWTH RATE ON DIFFERENT COPEPODS Apocyclops panamensis AND Parvocalanus spp.

Benjamin E. Lovewell*, Andrew L. Rhyne, Joseph T. Szczebak and Robert Jacobson.
 
 Roger Williams University
 1 Old Ferry Rd, Bristol, RI,
 Blovewell700@g.rwu.edu

The marine aquarium trade (MAT) has grown into a major global industry. This rapid growth has illuminated concerns regarding the sustainability of the MAT. Marine ornamental aquaculture (MOA) is a growing part of MAT sustainability, and there is a great demand for captive-bred individuals of high-demand species. Culturing marine species for the MAT has become easier as technologies advance, however the culture of fish can still pose a challenge to aquaculture facilities, specifically the larviculture portion. One of the major bottlenecks for larviculture is the live feed requirement. Apocyclops panamensis (Apo), a species of omnivorous cycloid copepod, has recently become popular in aquaculture due to its ability to be cultured on a non-viable algal paste. Culturing Apo is of great value to determine the suitability of this species as a live feed for the smallmouth grunt Haemulon chrysargyreum, to then extrapolate to other larval fish species. The goal of this research was to determine the suitability of Apo as a first feed for H. chrysargyreum by testing the effect of feeding Apo on larval fish survivorship, growth, and fatty acid composition, compared to fish fed Parvocalanus spp. (Parvo) copepods.

All H. chrysargyreum were kept at 26.38 ± 0.46°C until 17 days post hatch (dph). Nauplii concentrations were maintained at 4.64 ± 3.19/mL. H. chrysargyreum on the Apo treatment attained a notochord length of 6.68 ± 0.14 mm, whereas H. chrysargyreum on the Parvo treatment attained a notochord length of 8.06 ± 0.18 mm. At 17 dph 21% of the fish on the Apo treatment remained, compared to the 44% on the Parvo treatment.

This study is noteworthy because if larval fish can be raised using a copepod that does not require live algae this could reduce costs of production and make more MOA larviculture accessible for a greater number of aquaculture facilities.