Very early weaning of common sole (Solea solea L.) larvae by means of different feeding regimes and three commercial microdiets: Influence on performances, metamorphosis development and tank hygiene
Highlights
► Common sole larvae were weaned at 13 days post hatching using three commercial diets. ► Survival and metamorphosis were not affected by early weaning. ► Early weaned larvae showed lower growth performance. ► Early weaning reduced Vibrio spp. load in water.
Introduction
Common sole (Solea solea L.) is a very promising candidate for European aquaculture, characterized by high flesh quality, high market value and a total production of ~ 30 tons per year (Howell et al., 2008). There are though, several critical factors to be overcome in order to standardize a massive farming production: feeding behavior, susceptibility to disease, stocking density (Day et al., 1997, Howell, 1997, Imsland et al., 2004, Schram et al., 2006), as well as juvenile production (Howell et al., 2008) especially around weaning and metamorphosis which are accompanied by increased mortality rates (Rueda-Jasso et al., 2005). Standard feeding regimens during these periods represent a bottleneck for fishfarmers due to the required administration to young larvae of live-feed usually characterized by: 1) variable availability and price fluctuations of Artemia cysts (Callan et al., 2003), which can reach 700% (Moretti et al., 2005); and 2) poor hygienic conditions and high levels of pathogenic bacteria (Olafsen, 2001, Olsen et al., 2000). Total replacement of live-feed is still far to happen but the possibility of an early weaning of larvae using microdiets (MDs) could represent a valuable strategy to improve performances and reduce live feed utilization. First-time feeding fish larvae typically have a rudimentary digestive system characterized by a non-functional stomach and low digestive enzymes activity which make it difficult for them to process and assimilate a complex MD (Kolkovski, 2001). During the last decades, the pre-weaning period has been greatly reduced due to conclusive results obtained in laboratory (Cahu and Zambonino Infante, 2001). Furthermore, the utilization of a co-feeding regimen, which gradually weans larvae off live preys has been able to promote digestive maturation at early age (Engrola et al., 2007, Engrola et al., 2009) and to improve growth performances and survival rate of marine fish larvae (Rosenlund et al., 1997). In order to cover the knowledge gap on the use of commercial dry MDs for common sole before metamorphosis, we tested three different commercial products for their effects on growth performances, metamorphosis development and tank hygiene when used for an early weaning feeding regimen (FR).
Section snippets
Experimental feeding regimes
Four experimental weaning FRs were used in triplicate (Fig. 1). Control (FR-C) was formulated according to the protocol used at Solea BV, IJmuiden, The Netherlands, which is one of the most important hatcheries for this species (Andries Kamstra, personal communication). This protocol established live feed (Artemia nauplii until 9 dph and subsequently enriched metanauplii) with dry feed as co-feeding until 27 dph. The MD used in FR-C was AgloNorse, Ewos, Norway. The other three FRs were
Results
At the end of the trial, larvae successfully completed metamorphosis and the percentage of fish with abnormal pigmentation was less than 1‰ in all the experimental groups. Survival rates, as shown in Table 2, ranged from 36.7% to 55.8% without any statistical difference between groups. SGR data (Table 2) did not show any statistical difference until 14 dph, before the beginning of different feeding regimens. From 14 dph to 25 dph, significant differences appeared between groups, the control
Discussion
The feasibility of early weaning in common sole is a key-factor in the industrialization of farming processes of this promising aquaculture species. According to our data on survival rate, pigmentation and metamorphosis degree it seems feasible to promote a very early weaning using commercial MDs, in place of more traditional feeding regimens characterized by live-feed. The lack of significant differences found in the present study between early weaned groups and control could indicate a
Acknowledgments
We thank Davide Aluisio, Gloria Matassoni and Silvia Testi for technical assistance, Elettra Pignotti for statistical analyses.
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