Dietary mannan oligosaccharide enhances salinity tolerance and gut development of larval cobia

The potential beneficial effects of supplementing live feeds with mannan oligosaccharide (MOS; BioMos®) upon cobia Rachycentron canadum larval performance were examined. Characteristics of fish examined included survival to weaning, growth, ability to withstand osmotic stress and the degree of development of the brush border of the intestine. Live feeds included rotifers (Brachionus plicatilis) and Artemia which were enriched for 24 h with a commercial enrichment media alone or in combination with 0.2% (dry weight basis) MOS. Salinity challenges were performed at 6 days post-hatch (dph) and at 7, 13, and 14 dph (0 and 65 g L−1 for 6 dph; 0 and 55−1 7+ dph) corresponding to transitions in feeding, to examine the ability of larval cobia to survive stress. Differences (P