FISH LARVAL PERFORMANCE FED WITH COPEPODS (ACARTIA GRANl) AND THE DINOFLAGELLATE (OXYRRHIS MARINA) AS SUPPLEMENT: THE CASE OF DUSKY GROUPER (EPINEPHELUS MARGINAWS)

摘要

Early life stages of dusky grouper, Epinephelus marginatus (Lowe 1834) are still a bottleneck in larval rearing due to their high mortality. Diet and low disturbance of the water column during larval rearing affect survival because the species is fragile and needs small and nutritious live feed (Cunha et al., 2009). Co-pepods are the natural food items in the wild possessing 2 to 3 times more highly unsaturated fatty acids than rotifers. The use of large tanks like the ones used in semi-intensive systems promotes stability of the water column and reduces interference with larvae.The aim of this work is to compare the effect of the introduction of copepods in the diet of dusky grouper larvae and the use of the semi-intensive systems on their development and quality.