A successful microbound diet for the larval culture of freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii

A high moisture (63–71%), semi-purified microbound diet containing alginate was compared to newly hatched live Artemia nauplii as an exclusive diet for the culture of larval freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii from 5th stage (weighted mean) through metamorphosis to postlarva. Two separate trials, representing larvae from different hatches, were conducted. Larvae were stocked at 50/l into cone-shaped vessels that contained 2 l of 12‰ seawater and were part of a temperature-controlled (28 °C) recirculating culture system. Larvae were manually fed either the live Artemia diet or the microbound diet exclusively, several times daily. After 14 days (23 days post-hatch (dph)), growth of larvae fed the microbound diet was 90% of that achieved for larvae fed newly hatched nauplii of Artemia. Survival of larvae fed the microbound diet was 77.3% and 73.3%, and was not significantly different from that of Artemia-fed larvae. Composed of readily available ingredients, the diet contains 46.2% crude protein and 37.4% lipid, is easy to prepare, and has good water stability. The diet is an economically practical alternative to the fluctuating cost, nutrient uncertainty, and labor associated with the use of Artemia nauplii hatched from cysts. The characteristics of the diet suggest good potential for successful use in the larviculture of other fish and crustacean species, in either the existing or a modified state.