GROWTH, SURVIVAL AND NUTRITIONAL PROFILE OF MARINE LARVAE (Penaeus monodon) FED WITH SELECTED MICROALGAE

Abstract

Shrimp (Penaeus monodon) aquaculture is expanding in Bangladesh and plays an important role in socio-economic development. The growing demand for fishmeal in aquaculture diets has prompted the hunt for cheaper and sustainable protein ingredients. In this analysis, a PL shrimp Penaeus monodon feeding trial was performed in which two dried microalgae, Tetraselmis chuii and Chlorella sp., were used to substitute fish meal protein. 25% (T25), 50% (T50), 75% (T75) of T. chuii and 25% (CH25), 50% (CH50), 75% (CH75) of Chlorella sp. were supplemented to PLs in triplicates for 17 days for each treatment and fed to shrimp PL to determine the survival rate, growth efficiency and nutritional composition of the experimental diets. Fish meal (0%) feed replacement without microalgae treated as control. The findings demonstrated the significant (p < 0.05) high weight growth of two experimental diets: T25 % and CH25 % as compared to formulated feeds of 100% fish meal. In addition, the survival rates (p <0.05) of PLs filled with T25 and CH25 % were significantly greater than those of the control. In the tanks for shrimp culture fed with Tetraselmis chuii and Chlorella sp., total ammonium nitrogen (TAN), nitrite nitrogen (NO2-N) and phosphate phosphorus (PO4-P) were significantly lower, p <0.05). This study has shown that microalgae can potentially optimize water quality and reduce costs for sustainable shrimp cultivation.