Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
8863338 | Aquaculture Reports | 2018 | 6 Pages |
Abstract
This paper reports methodology for large-scale hatchery culture of sandfish, Holothuria scabra, in the absence of live, cultured micro-algae. We demonstrate how commercially-available micro-algae concentrates can be incorporated into hatchery protocols as the sole larval food source to completely replace live, cultured micro-algae. Micro-algae concentrates supported comparable hatchery production of sandfish to that of live, cultured micro-algae traditionally used in large-scale hatchery culture. The hatchery protocol presented allowed a single technician to achieve production of more than 18,800 juvenile sandfish at 40 days post-fertilisation in a low-resource hatchery in Papua New Guinea. Growth of auricularia larvae fed micro-algae concentrates was represented by the equation length (μm) = 307.8 Ã ln(day) + 209.2 (R2 = 0.93) while survival over the entire 40 day hatchery cycle was described by the equation survival = 2 Ã dayâ1.06 (R2 = 0.74). These results show that micro-algae concentrates have great potential for simplifying hatchery culture of sea cucumbers by reducing infrastructural and technical resources required for live micro-algae culture. The hatchery methodology described in this study is likely to have applicability to low-resource hatcheries throughout the Indo-Pacific and could support regional expansion of sandfish hatchery production.
Related Topics
Life Sciences
Agricultural and Biological Sciences
Animal Science and Zoology
Authors
Thane A. Militz, Esther Leini, Nguyen Dinh Quang Duy, Paul C. Southgate,