On feeding of the freshwater prawn larvae Macrobrachium rosenbergii

Abstract

The hatchery of Macrobrachium rosenbergii is a successful activity that supports freshwater prawn farming operations worldwide, although feeding schedules require improvement. As M. rosenbergii is assumed to forage at night, Artemia nauplii (AN) are normally offered in the afternoon or at night. However, at present, there is neither consensus on the optimum schedule nor the amount of nauplii that should be provided daily during the larval phase. In the present study, two aspects of the provisioning of the M. rosenbergii larvae were tested experimentally í  (i) the timing of the presentation of the Artemia nauplii (08:00 h and 20:00 h), and (ii) the density of the nauplii (5, 10, 20 AN mL^-1). The results showed that M. rosenbergii larvae feed Artemia nauplii preferentially during the daylight hours, and that provisioning during this period supports a 25% increase in productivity. The results also showed that it is unnecessary to provide Artemia nauplii at a density up to 5 Na mL^-1, not exceeding 10 AN mL^-1.