Substitution of Natural Food with Artificial Feed during Rearing Larvae of Sichel Pelecus cultratus (L.) under Controlled Conditions

摘要

Larvae of sichel Pelecus cultratus (L.) were reared up on natural food (Artemia sp. nauplii), after a certain time replaced by dry feed (Perla – Skretting). The rearing was conducted in aquaria of the capacity of 50 dm3 each working in a closed, water recirculation system. The sichel larvae were reared up for 21 days in five nutrition groups: P21 – dry feed only, A4P17 – 4 days of Artemia larvae followed by 17 days of dry feed; A8P13 – 8 days of Artemia nauplii followed by 13 days of dry feed; A12P9 - 12 days of Artemia larvae followed by 9 days of dry feed, and A21–Artemia nauplii throughout the whole experiment. The assessment of the effect of substituting natural food with feed was based on the size reached by larvae, survivability, relative growth rate of individual fish larvae and body condition. The larvae fed on the dry feed and the ones which first received Artemia nauplii for the first 4 to 8 days presented the smallest gain, which suggests that natural food should be given to sichel larvae for at least the first 12 days of rearing.