Effect of probiotic (Bacillus spp.) addition during larvae and postlarvae culture of the white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei

The effect of the addition of Bacillus probiotic during larvae and postlarvae culture of the white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei was examined in three separate experiments: (I) Nauplius4‐5 to Zoea3, which were exposed to probiotic in the water (Pw), only in the microalgae (Pm), in the water and microalgae (Pwm) and a control with no probiotic (C); (II) Mysis1 to Mysis3, which were exposed to probiotic in the water (Pw), only in Artemia (Pa), in the water and Artemia (Pwa) and a control (C); (III) PL1 to PL10, which were exposed to similar treatments for mysis experiment. The use of probiotic Bacillus spp. resulted in an increase in the survival and growth of zoea and mysis phases, especially when the probiotic was added only in the water. For postlarvae, the use of the probiotic had no influence on the zootechnical parameters, however, there was a reduction in the count of presumptive Vibrio both for water and shrimp.