Insights into the Increased Dietary Levels of Brine Shrimp Artemia franciscana co fed with Microparticle Diets in the Rearing of Litopenaeus vannamei

Despite the historical significance of Artemia franciscana as live food for many fish and shrimp larvae and efforts to co-feed live Artemia with micro-particulate feeds, the ideal co-feeding combination for early larval and post-larval stages of Litopenaeus vannamei remains unknown. In two independent larval experiments, six different concentrations of Artemia nauplii were investigated as a co-feed with two different commercial micro-particulate diets and fed to satiation with a range Artemia feeding levels were employed. In two consecutive experimental trials, postlarvae performance was assessed in terms of survival, growth, muscle gut ratio (MGR), osmotic stress test, fatty acid, amino acid, and whole-body composition. Overall, increased Artemia inclusion levels significantly improved survival during the hatchery cycle (PL15) up to a level of 5,900g of Artemia per million <i>L. vannamei</i> postlarvae produced. Additionally, survival further increased with increased inclusion of Artemia when continually co-feeding during extended nursery life stages up to PL 35. Biochemical analysis of body tissue and feeds were not able to offer an explanation for the improved survival rates recommending that additional research will be required to further elucidate the reasons for improved survival with increased levels of Artemia co-feeding. In summary, few studies have attempted to determine optimal levels of co-feeding of Artemia and particulate feeds for hatchery and nursery culture of <i>L. vannamei</i>. These findings strongly suggest that co-feeding with 4 kg to 6 Kg of Artemia per million fry produced is recommended for the successful culture of <i>L. vannamei</i> post larvae up to PL15 with commercially available micro-particulate feeds and suggest that even higher levels of Artemia co-feeding may be beneficial for later PL stages typically encountered in the nursery culture of L. vannamei. Additional research will be required to identify reasons for the increased survival obtained with these optimal Artemia co-feeding levels.