Activity pattern of the marine shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei (Boone 1931) in laboratory as a function of different feeding frequencies

Abstract

Management practices on most Brazilian shrimp farms have resulted in high expenses for producers and damage to the environment. Applied ethology could provide information on the pattern of shrimp activity, enabling more efficient feeding frequencies. Behavioural activities of the shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei were recorded during different feeding frequencies. The shrimp were kept in aquariums on a 12:12 h light/dark cycle. They were fed commercial ration three (at 6:00, 12:00 and 18:00 hours), four (at 6:00, 10:00, 14:00 and 18:00 hours) or seven times per day (at 6:00. 8:00, 10:00, 12:00, 14:00, 16:00 and 18:00 hours). We observed animals at 15 min−1 aquarium−1 time periods, recording feeding, substrate exploration, swimming and inactivity. Feeding and exploration were the highest for shrimp fed three times per day, swimming was greatest when animals received four feedings, whereas inactivity was higher for shrimp fed seven times per day. There was greater food ingestion between 12:00 and 14:00 hours for animals fed three and four times per day, whereas swimming was high mainly at 18:00 hours for shrimp fed three and seven times per day. The results indicate higher forage‐related activities (exploration/ingestion) when feed was offered three or four times, suggesting optimization in the pattern of shrimp activities based on these feeding frequencies.

A study of feeding in the shrimpFarfantepenaeus subtilisindicates the value of species level behavioral data for optimizing culture management

“…Aguzzi et al (2004) state that the feeding profile of a species may be the result of complex interactions between their behavioral rhythm and environmental modulators. In penaeidae, feed consumption varies among species and is influenced by many intrinsic factors as body size, molt stage, and metabolism besides extrinsic factors as 24 h light cycle and temperature (Wasielesky et al 2003;Arruda 2005a, 2005b;Soares et al 2005;Lima et al 2009;Buarque et al 2010). Among these factors, we can identify the light and dark phases of the 24 h cycle as an important influence on feeding regime.…”

Comportamento do camarão em diferentes substratos nas fases clara e escura do dia

“…Pesquisas em etologia aplicada têm como objetivo principal o entendimento e a promoção desse bem-estar, o que tem sido uma preocupação da sociedade contemporânea, confirmada pela criação da "International Society for Applied Ethology" (Isae) (Millman et al, 2004). No entanto, ainda são necessárias informações sobre o comportamento dos camarões em cativeiro, o que inclui a fase clara e escura do ciclo de 24 horas (Pontes, 2006;Lima et al, 2009).…”

Dried Skeletonema costatum in Feed Formulation for the Growth of Vaname Shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei)

“…Frequency of feeding behavior of vaname shrimp was also noted by de Lima et al [11] indicating that feeding can affect the activity of shrimp itself. In the natural ecosystem, they generally actively feed at night, therefore the shrimp included in the group of nocturnal animals.…”