Immune response and disease resistance of shrimp fed biofloc grown on different carbon sources

•Bioflocs showed positive effects on shrimp immunity and disease resistance.•No effect of organic carbon source used in biofloc system on shrimp immune response.•Biofloc technology can contribute to shrimp disease control and management.

The objective of this study was to document the immunological effects of growing shrimp in biofloc systems. The experiment consisted of four types of biofloc systems in which bioflocs were produced by daily supplementation of four different carbon sources, i.e. molasses, tapioca, tapioca-by-product, and rice bran, at an estimated C/N ratio of 15 and a control system without any organic carbon addition. Each biofloc system was stocked with Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) juveniles that were reared for 49 days. The use of tapioca-by-product resulted in a higher survival (93%) of the shrimp as compared to the other carbon sources and the control. The highest yield and protein assimilation was observed when tapioca was used as the carbon source. After 49 days, phenoloxidase (PO) activity of the shrimp grown in all biofloc systems was higher than that of the shrimp from the control system. Following a challenge test by injection with infectious myonecrosis virus (IMNV), the levels of PO and respiratory burst (RB) activity in the shrimp of all biofloc treatments were higher than that of the challenged shrimp from the control treatment. An increased immunity was also suggested by the survival of the challenged shrimp from the experimental biofloc groups that was significantly higher as compared to the challenged shrimp from the control treatment, regardless of the organic carbon source used to grow the bioflocs. Overall, this study demonstrated that the application of biofloc technology may contribute to the robustness of cultured shrimp by immunostimulation and that this effect is independent of the type of carbon source used to grow the flocs.