Early Weaning Effects on Survival, Growth, and Histopathology of Larval Sterlet Acipenser ruthenus

Abstract

Weaning of fish is a critical stage during larval rearing and could cause high mortality. Therefore, proper larval weaning period selection is crucial for the success of larviculture. This study aimed to find the effect of weaning on growth performance, histopathological features, and mortality rates in larvae of Sterlet Acipenser ruthenus. The experimental rearing was conducted from 7 to 38 d posthatch (dph) at a mean temperature of 18°C in a recirculating system. The experiment was carried out in three groups (each with three replicates) and placed in nine tanks (22 L) at a density of 10 individuals/L. The diet groups were made up of group C in which larvae were fed with nauplii of brine shrimp Artemia spp., group F7 in which larvae were weaned to dry feed 15 dph, and group F that was fed with dry feed throughout the experimental trial. During 15-38 dph, total wet body weight and total length were lowest in the group fed with formulated feed. Survival rate of larvae in group F7 was 90.45% and 70.05% during 7-14 and 15-22 dph, respectively. On the other hand, the survival rate of larvae fed only Artemia nauplii (group C) or formulated feed (group F) was 86.14% and 70.45% during 7-14 dph and 84.55% and 78.41% during 15-22 dph, respectively. The maximum height of the enterocytic epithelium was found in the individuals in group F7 (mean ± SD = 33.80 ±

Effect of Micro Particulate Diets and Different Weaning Periods on Survival and Growth of European Sea Bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) Larvae

“…El-Dahhar et al (2016b) found the same significance in terms of FBW, (WG), (ADG) and (SGR, %) for sea bass weaned with MD obtained in 42 and 57 DPH at different weaning periods (P <0.05). In addition, the results of this study are consistent with the approaches of (Suzer et al, 2007;Laczynska et al, 2020) who believed that MD inclusion can be started after 25 dph. The 15-day group (dph) of D. labrax larvae culture had the lowest growth and survival rates, while the 25-day group (dph) had the highest.…”

“…Formulated food should not be used to substitute Artemia for daily use suddenly, but should start with mixed feeding, by decreasing daily live food and gradually increasing formula feed, till proceed as it is completely replaced (Portella and Dabrowski 2008;Laczynska et al, 2020). In this combined feeding method was longly known as co-feeding strategy, the growth rate may be similar or better than that of Artemia feeding alone (Person Le Ruyet et al, 1993).As previously reported by Taylor et al 2020, who pointed out that, MD is appropriate for larval growth , should have high platability, and have high stability in seawater, and it easily classify them as Suitable size, can be used in automatic feeders.…”

“…The diets of larvae rearing production is a big challenge in aquaculture. To optimizing nutritional protocols in this bottleneck according to the larval digestive system is critical (Taylor et al, 2020;Laczynska et al, 2020). The mechanism of which marine fish larvae weaned from live feed to commercial feeds commonly starts with finishing larval period.…”

Early Weaning in Endangered Delta Smelt: Effect of Weaning Time on Growth and Survival

“…Laczynska et al. (2020) conducted a weaning trial on Sterlet Acipenser ruthenus larvae and found that fish increase wet body weight and total length and develop a better liver and digestive tract when the larvae were fed Artemia nauplii at 7–15 dph. Kolkovski et al.…”

“…Many aquaculture facilities use live feeds such as rotifers ( Brachionus plicatilis ) and brine shrimp ( Artemia franciscana ) nauplii for their larval fish diets (Laczynska et al. 2020). Compared to formulated diets, live prey comprises a significant portion of the financial and logistical costs in fish culturing.…”