First larval rearing trials of red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus ) in Martinique (French West Indies)

Two batches of red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus ) larvae were air shipped from hatcheries in the U.S.A. and stocked in two intensive tank experiments at densities of 7 and 2-3 larvae per liter. Food items include live rotifers, copepods, brine shrimps, squid and commercial fish pellets. Growth rates were similar in both experiments up to day 20 but differences in feeding schedule and an infestation by the dinoflagellate Amyloodinium sp. affected the growth from day 20 to 43 in the second trial. Significant mortalities occurred in the tanks during the first feeding period and again from days 17 to 20 as the result of cannibalism. Abnormal inflation of the swim bladder and infection with Amyloodinium sp. reduced the survival to 6-19% in the second.