Essential fatty acids for larval mud crab Scylla serrata: implications of lack of the ability to bioconvert C18 unsaturated fatty acids to highly unsaturated fatty acids

摘要

This study was conducted to examine the effect of essential fatty acids (EFA) on the survival, development and bioconversion of fatty acids in mud crab Scylla serrata larvae. Mud crab larvae held in 1-1 plastic beakers (30 ind/1) were fed rotifers that had been enriched with oleic acid (18:1n-9, OA), linoleic acid (18:2n-6, LA), linolenic acid (18:3n-3, LNA), eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5n - 3, EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (22:6n - 3, DHA) ethyl ester oil during the zoea (Z)1 and Z2 stage. Upon reaching the D stage, rotifers were shifted to unenriched Artemia or Artemia enriched with either EPA or DHA ethyl ester. Further in order to allow comparison of the effect of the enriched rotifers on the fatty acid composition of the Z2 stage larvae, larvae fed enriched rotifers were harvested upon reaching the Z2 stage for fatty acid analysis.