DIGESTIVE ENZYME PROFILES OF SPINY LOBSTER J ASUS EDWARDSII PHYLLOSOMA LARVAE AND IMPLICATIONS FOR CULTURE

摘要

There is significant interest in the development of spiny lobster aquaculture. However, lack of knowledge about the natural diet and nutritional requirements of spiny lobster phyllosoma has been a major impediment to the development of larviculture, with unsuitable diets and feeding regimes being blamed for consistently high mortalities (Cox & Johnston 2003). A range of approaches to identify the natural diet of phyllosoma including using biochemical dietary markers, gut contents, digestive morphology and natural prey-choice experiments have had limited success. The analysis of digestive enzyme activities has proven to be an effective approach in understanding the crustacean digestive process and determining the nutritional characteristics of natural diets (Johnston 2003). Digestive enzyme activities of cultured and wild phyllosoma of Jasus edwardsii were investigated over progressive stages of development to provide an indication of their digestive capabilities and nutritional requirements and tohelp identify the characteristics of their natural prey. This knowledge will contribute to the development of culture diets tailored to meet the digestive capabilities of spiny lobster phyllosoma at each larval stage.