The area surrounding the Hau River is one of the most important aquaculture and fisheries areas in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. Fish, shrimp farms and fishers rely of the natural zooplankton production in the incoming water to sustain production. Zooplankton samples were collected from July 2017 to June 2018 using a zooplankton net with mesh size of 60 μm at 3 sites on Hau river at Tran De (river mouth), Dai Ngai (midpoint) and Cai Con (farthest salt intrusion area on Hau river). Qualitative and quantitative samples of zooplankton together with salinity level were determined monthly at each sites. The salinity was found to fluctuate from 0 to 20‰ in the study area. A total of 137 zooplankton species were recorded including 26 species of Protozoa (19%), 47 species of Rotifera (34%), 12 species of Cladocera (9%), 44 species of Copepoda (32%) and 8 other taxon (6%). Copepod and rotifer prevailed with high densities (19.9 × 103 ind m−3 and 19.7 × 103 ind m−3, respectively), whereas protozoa and cladocera were less abundant with 6.8 × 103 ind m−3 and 4.9 × 103 ind m−3, respectively. When salinity increased to more than 5, protozoa and copepods were more abundant and reached a peak at 20 with 25.0 × 1036 ind m−3 and 53.0 × 103 ind m−3, respectively. Regression analysis indicated that the density of zooplankton was significantly correlated to salinity variation. Protozoa and copepod were positively correlated with salinity, whereas cladocera and rotifer were negatively correlated with salinity. The impacts of climate change could exacerbate the seasonal fluctuations in salinity and zooplankton composition.

The study is aimed to develop a relevant synbiotic to promote growth performance of the whiteleg shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei. For this, four common natural fiber extracts from Arcera banana, Siamese banana, yellow sweet potato, and white sweet potato were screened for supporting the growth of Lactobacillus sp. which was isolated from whiteleg shrimp intestines with probiotic activity, prebiotic score, and ability to induce bacterial enzyme activities of protease, leu-aminopeptidase, and a-amylase. Results showed that Lactobacillus sp. was able to utilize all extracts from banana and sweet potato as the sole carbon sources. At 24 hours of culture, the growth of Lactobacillus sp. was highest after adding the extract from white sweet potato as the sole carbon source. Considering pathogenic bacteria, including Vibrio parahaemolyticus, white sweet potato extract had the highest prebiotic score with a mean of 0.25 as compared with those of V. harveyi with a mean of 0.16. White sweet potato extract induced the highest activities of protease. These results indicated that white sweet potato extract was more suitable for combining with Lactobacillus sp. as a synbiotic for shrimp culture.

The aim of this study is to characterize the sulfur oxidizing bacteria (SOB) isolates from the sediments of extensive shrimp ponds for recommending the use of this group for water quality management in aquaculture. Sediment samples were collected from 12 extensive shrimp ponds located in Tra Vinh, Soc Trang, Bac Lieu, and Ca Mau provinces. To screen the potential sulfur oxidizing bacteria, medium was amended with sodium thiosulfate, and the sulfate ion production ability and sulfur oxidase enzyme activity of the isolates were measured spectrophotometrically. Results showed that 30 isolates grew on the thiosulfate agar medium. Among these, only five isolates reduced the pH of the growth medium and showed high sulfur oxidase activity and production of sulfate ion when isolates were inoculated with thiosulfate as a substrate. Physiological and biochemical tests indicated that five selected isolates were Gram negative, short rod, non-motile, non-spore forming, negative for oxidase reaction, and positive for catalase reaction. The isolates SOBTB1.1 and SOBTB6.2 showed the significantly higher sulfur oxidase activity and production of sulfate ion compared to other isolates. SOBTB6.2 isolate produced sulfate ion and exhibited higher sulfur oxidase activity at pH4-5, followed by pH6-7. It is, therefore, suggested that the SOBTB 1.1 and SOBTB6.2 could be promising sulfur oxidizers for further research and uses in aquaculture.

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A total of 291 white leg shrimp samples were collected from 70 cultured ponds in Soc Trang, Bac Lieu and Ca Mau provinces in the Mekong Delta and subjected to endoparasitic detection in the digestive tract. Collected shrimps displayed unhealthy behaviors such as stop or less feeding and lethagic swimming. Pathological signs in the gastrointestinal tract include (1) empty midgut and stomach together with pale and atrophy hepatopancreas; (2) empty, little or discontinued food in the midgut; (3) slow growth and variation in sizes; and (4) white feces. The results from fresh and Giemsa stained smears methods revealed that 96.5% of sampled shrimps were infected by gregarine parasite at different developmental stages. A prevalence infection of 24.7% was recorded with Vermiform present in the hepatopancreas by fresh smear and histology. Histopathological analysis noted that 7.9% of collected shrimp samples had Enterocytozoon hepatopenaei (EHP) spores in hepatopancreas and midgut and confirmed by PCR analysis.