Feeding, egg production and laboratory culture of Schmackeria poplesia Shen (Copepoda: Calanoida)

摘要

Copepods are candidates with great potential as live prey for rearing fish larvae and juveniles in aquaculture; however, the techniques for a large-scale culture of copepods are yet to be developed. In this study, we examined the effects of water temperature, salinity, prey concentration and algal species on the grazing and egg production rates of a calanoid copepod Schmackeria poplesia (Copepoda: Calanoida). The results showed that the grazing rate of S. poplesia was the highest when the copepods were cultured in seawater with temperature of 25 °C, salinity of 20 g L−1, prey concentration at 105 cells mL−1 and supplied with Platymonas helgolandica as the prey. The egg production rates, however, was the highest when copepods were fed with a mixed prey of Isochrysis galbana and Phaeodactylum tricornutum (cell ratio 1:1, prey concentration 105 cells mL−1) at 25 °C, 20 g L−1 of salinity. A 100 L cultural system was established to culture S. poplesia under the condition optimized for egg production. The total number of copepods increased 40–43-fold with the production rates of 87–290 copepods L−1 day−1 in 14 days. This research was the first attempt for a large-scale culture of S. poplesia and the technique established can be further applied in aquaculture.