Development of larval culture techniques for the shore crab, Carcinus maenas (L)

Abstract

The shore crab Carcinus maenas is a commercially important species, utilised as sea angling bait as well as supporting a European-wide fishery. Hatchery production could provide an alternative source of bait crabs, alleviating potential competition between these sectors and environmental concerns regarding bait collection practices. A series of experiments were carried to investigate the potential for hatchery production, focusing on effects of dietary regimes and stocking densities through the zoeal stages and the influence of tank substrates and stocking density during the megalopa stage. Inclusion of the rotifer Brachionus plicatilis as live food for early larval stages conveyed no advantage in terms of survival or rate of development compared to a diet of Artemia nauplii. Increasing zoea stocking densities (from 94 to 557 l -1 ) had a significantly negative effect upon survival to the megalopa stage (from 75% down to 47%), although this was off-set by a significant increase in production, with 260 megalopae -1 produced from an initial density of 557 zoeae l -1 . The inclusion of substrates for megalopa stages had no impact on production or development rate, compared to tanks with no substrate. The completely benthic behaviour of megalopae indicates that tank floor area will be a limiting factor for crab production. Increasing stocking density of megalopae was found to significantly and negatively influence survival, although above 10,000 megalopae m -2 the rate of decline in survival stabilised and maximum production (3,114 juveniles m -2 ) of juvenile crabs could be achieved at the highest stocking densities tested (40,000 m -2 ).

Aquaculture of marine non‐food organisms: what, why and how?

“…; Galley et al . ) and polychaetes (Olive ). For instance, aquaculture of the polychaete Nereis virens is an established source to supply the industry of marine worms used as bait by sea anglers (Olive ).…”

“…Several marine organisms have been intensively farmed for fishing bait, particularly crustacean decapods (Mays et al 2006;Galley et al 2011) and polychaetes (Olive 1999). For instance, aquaculture of the polychaete Nereis virens is an established source to supply the industry of marine worms used as bait by sea anglers (Olive 1999).…”

Mass selection for small-sized cysts inArtemia franciscanaproduced in Vinh Chau salt ponds, Vietnam

“…Recently, a lot of efforts have been made to replace rotifers by Artemia nauplii at first feeding of shrimp, marine fish and crab. However, prey size limitations resulting in reduced larval survival are still the main challenge (Faleiro & Narciso 2009;Nhu, Dierckens, Nguyen, Tran & Sorgeloos 2009;Galley, Green, Watkins & Le Vay 2011). Consequently, there is a high potential for small-sized Artemia cysts on the world market.…”

Insights into the Habitat Choice for the Culture of Himalayapotamon emphysetum under Laboratory Conditions

“…In the present study, an experiment was conducted to investigate the habitat choice of adult females and males of Himalayapotamon emphysetum under laboratory conditions, using different microhabitats and substrates as the recognition of a suitable substrate is crucial to improve the probability of the survival of any species and to assure the success of recruitment of animal population 8 . Various aspects related to the culture of marine crab species have been addressed in detail by various workers 9,10 ; however, the insights into freshwater crab culture have been rarely discussed.…”