Development and Standardization of Enrichment Protocol of Live Feed for Larval Rearing of the Green Mussel Perna Viridis Linnaeus 1758

Abstract

The ever-growing concerns about the increased rate of larval mortality leading newlineto unsustainability in the aquaculture industry necessitate the need for improving the newlinenutritional quality of the live feed used. In the aquaculture industry, the seeds used newlinecome from two different sources, one is natural and the other hatchery-produced. The newlineproblems with natural seeds are, they may not be available whenever needed, there are newlinechances of contamination, and are always unpredictable as the growth stages may not be newlineuniform, whereas hatchery-produced seeds are of predictable availability, having newlineuniform growth stages and there are no chances of contamination. ie, the availability of newlinedesirable larval stages in the required quantity and quality throughout the year can be newlineguaranteed. newlineBut then, owing to nutritional inadequacy, during the early stages of newlinedevelopment, poor survival of larvae has been reported in hatcheries. To address the newlineissue of the high rate of premature mortality in the larviculture industry, one of the newlinepromising solutions is providing them with good quality feed, especially microalgae as newlinea live feed. newlineAs we know, microalgae form the basis of the food chain and are good sources newlineof essential fatty acids, especially and#969;-3 and and#969;-6 fatty acids. Advancement in newlinebiotechnology has paved the way for the bio-enrichment of microalgae by modulating newlineculture conditions and environmental parameters to improve larval growth in hatcheries. newlineAlthough much work has been done in this area in other countries, the field is still in its newlineinfancy in India. newline