Acceptability of raw Spirulina platensis by larval tilapia Oreochromis niloticus

Abstract

Thirteen‐day‐old tilapia larvae (mean weight: 0.01 g), at the onset of exogenous feeding, were stocked at five fish per liter in rearing tanks. They were fed unialgal cultures of Spirulina platensis from varying ages [0, 12, 17, 21, and 28 days after the onset of exogenous feeding with a standard length (SL) of 0.8 cm, 1.8 cm, 2.0 cm, 2.5 cm, and 3.0 cm, respectively]. Feeding experiments on larvae fed different amounts of raw Spirulina were also designed. Acceptability tended to improve with an increase in the initial SL of the experimental larvae, and larval tilapia from 2.0 cm SL showed significantly rapid growth when fed raw Spirulina. Larval tilapia that were fed solely raw Spirulina at a feeding rate of 30% (on a dry basis) of bodyweight in the first 3 weeks, 10% in weeks 4–6, and 3% in weeks 7–10, kept growing without any abnormality. Final weight and SL reached 3.2 ± 0.4 g and 4.5 ± 0.2 cm (n = 20), respectively, demonstrating that raw Spirulina was accepted by tilapia even just after the onset of exogenous feeding. Growth and survival rate of larvae fed Spirulina at different feeding rates in the first 3 weeks just after the onset of exogenous feeding showed a significant difference. Larval tilapia fed to satiation had the best growth performance throughout the 10‐week rearing period, whereas those fed at a feeding rate of 10% stopped growing eventually and stunting was found. The availability of an abundant supply of Spirulina during the early stages seemed to be important for the normal growth and development of tilapia. Raw Spirulina appears to be an effective uni‐feed for larval tilapia when developing a food chain of phytoplankton–fish for a closed ecological recirculating aquaculture system (CERAS).

The Role of Spirulina platensis (Arthrospira platensis) in Growth and Immunity of Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and Its Resistance to Bacterial Infection

“…The results in the current study are in accordance with Watanabe et al (1990) and Takeuchi et al (2002) who found that feed supplemented with S. platensis powder improved the feed conversion ratio and growth rates in striped jack, Pseudocaranx dentex. Lu et al (2002) demonstrated that raw S. platensis can be an effective uni-feed for larval tilapia at a feeding rate of 30% (on a dry basis) of body weight. Abdel-Tawwab and Ahmed (2009) recorded that the growth and feed utilization of O. niloticus were obtained at 5.0 g fresh culture of S. platensis /kg diet.…”

Effects of diets with increasing levels of Spirulina platensis on the carcass characteristics, meat quality and fatty acid composition of growing rabbits

“…SP has been evaluated widely as fresh meal for mollusc bivalve and fish larvae (Harel et al, 2002;Lu et al, 2002) or as raw meal for juveniles and adults (Nandesha et al, 2001;Takeuki et al, 2002;Palmegiano et al, 2005;Palmegiano et al, 2008).…”

Effects of Solar UV Radiation on Morphology and Photosynthesis of Filamentous Cyanobacterium Arthrospira platensis

“…Arthrospira (Spirulina) platensis is an economically wellknown filamentous cyanobacterium that is commercially produced as a source of human health food (9), animal feed (31), and cosmetic colorants (11), and considerable efforts have been made to optimize the growth conditions of this organism for massive production (24,40,50,52). The morphological features of Arthrospira species include characteristic regular helical coiling or spirals.…”