The effect of feeding with different microalgae on survival, growth, and fatty acid composition of Artemia franciscana metanauplii and on predominant bacterial species of the rearing water

Artemia franciscana metanauplii widely is being used in cultured marine species. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of feeding with two marine and two freshwater microalgae as feed alone or in combination on survival, growth, and fatty acid composition of A. franciscana metanauplii and on predominant bacterial species of the rearing water. Five microalgae diets were used for feeding: Amphora viridis (AV) , Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (CR) , Chlorella vulgaris (CV), and Dunaliella salina (DS) and a combination of four microalgae (MX diet). Artemia franciscana fed AV, DS, and MX diets showed higher survival than that fed CR and CV diets. MX group showed higher total length among groups ( P < 0.05). Total n-3 fatty acid content was higher in the Artemia franciscana fed MX group, whereas total n-3 HUFA levels were found significantly higher in Artemia franciscana fed DS and AV diet ( P < 0.05). The bacterial load of the rearing water was significantly decreased with the use of CV; therefore, the CV diet might be suggested to be used in Artemia franciscana grow-out for reducing bacterial proliferation. According to 16S rRNA gene sequencing results, four different bacterial species including Carnobacterium maltaromaticum , Pseudomonas stutzeri , Pseudoalteromonas sp., and Vibrio sp. species were found predominantly in the rearing water of Artemia franciscana .