Culture of Macrobrachium rosenbergii post-larvae (De Man, 1879) (Crustacea, Palaemonidae) with the fingerlings of Pterophyllum scalare (Heckel, 1840) (Cichlidae) and Carassius auratus (Günther, 1870) (Ciprinidae) in laboratory

Abstract

Three experiments were tested with monoculture and polyculture of Macrobrachium rosenbergii post-larvae and fingerlings of Pterophyllum scalare and Carassius auratus in Aquaculture Laboratory (UFPE) from June 1^st, 1998 to January 19^th, 1999. Macrobrachium rosenbergii density was the same in experiments, twenty post-larvae per aquarium (volume = 50 liters, area = 0.125 m²), while angelfish and goldfish densities were different in each experiment. In experiment I, the angelfish densities were: two, four, six and eight angelfish with twenty prawns and one goldfish in treatments A, B, C and D, respectively. In experiment II, densities of goldfish were: one, two, three and four goldfish with twenty prawns and eight angelfish in treatments A, B, C and D, respectively. Six treatments were done in experiment III: A - twenty prawns, B - one goldfish, C - eight angelfish, D - twenty prawns and one goldfish, E - twenty prawns and eight angelfish and F - one goldfish and eight angelfish. The experimental design was entirely randomized, with four replications for each treatment in all experiments. The fingerlings and post-larvae prawns were weighed and measured every fifteen days, and at the end of the experiments their final survival was recorded. The experiment I and II did not show significant difference between treatments, but final survival and length showed significant difference between treatments with angelfish, but not between treatments with goldfish. The results showed the possibility of polyculture of ornamental fish goldfish and angelfish with the prawn M. rosenbergii, in densities of twenty post-larvae of M. rosenbergii, eight P. scalare and one C. auratus.