Culture of phyllosomas of Ibacus novemdentatus (Decapoda: Scyllaridae) in a closed recirculating system using jellyfish as food

The complete larval development of a slipper lobster, Ibacus novemdentatus, from newly hatched phyllosomas to juveniles fed only jellyfish, was successfully achieved. Most larvae passed through 6 phyllosomal and 1 nisto stages. The phyllosomal duration was shorter than that reported in previous studies; notably the 7th larval stage was skipped. This is the first report on the complete phyllosomal development with jellyfish as the sole food source. Moreover, the phyllosomas were reared under either closed recirculating or static conditions, where the shortest duration of phyllosomas was 44 and 41 days, respectively. Finally, 12.5% of phyllosomas in recirculating condition and 36.1% in static condition metamorphosed into nistos. We conclude that phyllosomas of I. novemdentatus could metamorphose into nisto in a labor-saving closed recirculating system furnished with ultraviolet sterilization and foam fractionation. The results indicate that mass production of phyllosomas in I. novemdentatus, reared solely on jellyfish in recirculating system, is feasible.

► Jellyfish is suitable as diet for rearing of phyllosomas of Ibacus novemdentatus. ► The phyllosomas could develop into juveniles with feeding only on jellyfish. ► Complete phyllosomal development was achieved in a labor-saving rearing condition.