Filtered Arthrospira platensis as a food suplement for juvenile shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei: effects on growth and immune system

Abstract

Microalgae is an important food source during the early stages of marine shrimps. Some microalgae, such as Arthrospira platensis, are rich in antioxidant substances and also have the capacity to remove toxics compounds from the water in aquaculture systems. The trial consisted in two treatments by triplicate, where the inclusion of filtered microalgae A. platensis as feed supplementation during production of juvenile Litopenaeus vannamei was assessed. The experimental design was based on a static system with six 250-L tanks with marine water (30 PSU), stocked 105 shrimps (300 shrimp m^-2) with an average weight of 0.7 ±0.2 g. At the end of the fed trial (42 days), the zootechnical and immunological parameters of shrimps were evaluated. Significant differences among the treatments were found for both parameters. Shrimps that received supplementation of microalgae A. platensis showed higher growth and better response of the immune system. Thus, these results allow to conclude that the supplementation of filtered microalgae A. platensis improve growth and immunological parameters of white shrimp L. vannamei.