Enhancing the reproductive performance of tiger shrimp, Penaeus monodon, by incorporating sodium alginate in the broodstock and larval diets

The culture of tiger shrimp, Penaeus monodon, heavily relies on wild-caught broodstock with concomitant problems of viral disease and quality. In order to develop a strategy to resolve those problems, sodium alginate was used during the seed culture and propagation of tiger shrimp. White spot syndrome virus (WSSV)-free broodstock fed sodium alginate-enriched polychaete sea worms at a concentration of 200 mg kg− 1 led to significantly higher egg production per gram of spawner's body weight, total larvae production per spawner, and the larval hatching rate. At the start of the feeding stage, larvae brooded by spawners of the SA group had a significantly larger body size compared to larvae from control brooders. Larval breeding experiments showed that larvae fed the sodium alginate-containing diet at a level of 1000 mg kg− 1 had a significantly higher survival and larger body size compared to larvae brooded by spawners from the same group without sodium alginate treatment. We concluded that supplementation of tiger shrimp broodstock's food of polychaete sea worms with sodium alginate at a concentration of 200 mg kg− 1 enhanced broodstock reproductive performance, while supplementation of the larval diet at a concentration of 1000 mg kg− 1 increased the larval survival and body size.