Mass culture and offspring production of marine harpacticoid copepod Tisbe biminiensis

The aim of the present study was to develop mass culture techniques for the copepod Tisbe biminiensis Volkmann-Rocco, 1973. Copepod culture was carried out in transparent plastic boxes (32 × 47 × 14.5 cm) containing 4.5 L of filtered aerated seawater at room temperature (28 to 32 °C) and a salinity value of 35‰. The copepods were fed daily with commercially available ornamental fish food (Alcon Basic®) and every other day following water exchange with 500 mL of one of the following diatoms: Phaeodactylum tricornutum or Thalassiosira fluviatilis. In all experiments, the number of copepods was estimated by sub-sampling. Offspring harvesting once a week and the presence of sediments on the bottom did not affect population growth. The harvesting of T. biminiensis from the 5 L cultures produced a mean of 28,000 nauplii and copepodites L−1 day−1 over a 130-day period using relatively simple culture techniques. Population abundance recuperated four days following offspring harvesting. The present study indicates that good results were achieved in the mass culture of T. biminiensis. The improvement of these techniques combined with biochemical composition studies can enable the future use of T. biminiensis as live food for marine larvae.

► The availability of live prey of high nutritional value is of fundamental importance in aquaculture.
► The intensive cultivation of copepods may be a live-prey option for fish and prawn larvicultures.
► We developed culture techniques for the copepod Tisbe biminiensis in 5 L volumes.
► This species grows well using simple techniques and low maintenance costs.